Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, speaking in Los Angeles, said that it is time to give justice to illegal immigrants in the USA.
Governor Jerry Brown and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti joined with Pena Nieto and addressed hundreds of fervent Mexican and Mexican-American leaders at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles to express solidarity for immigration reform. Advocating for comprehensive amnesty, Pena Nieto said, “This, at the end, is about — and only about — a matter of justice for those who contribute so much to the development of the American society.”
According to the Associated Press, Jerry Brown expressed his approval of the President’s remarks and also pledged he would speed up migrant crossings at the border, “If we can put a man on the moon, we can put a man from Mexico to California in 20 minutes.”
Speaking harshly of governors who oppose amnesty for illegal aliens, Pena Nieto remarked that, “There are still states that have not evolved so much as California, that still skimp on recognition and, even worse, the rights of immigrants,” he said. “Those who still believe and bet for the exclusion and discrimination or the rejection of diversity… I only have one thing to say: the future, and a very near future, will demonstrate your ethical mistake. Time will show we’re right.”
Raúl Hinojosa, a professor of Chicano Studies at University of California, Los Angeles, observed that the president’s visit is significant because it unites the governor of the largest state, the mayor of the second-largest city, and the president of the nation that provides the most migrants.
“There’s a positive way forward, in terms of working collectively, specifically, on the issues of human rights and immigrant rights on both sides of the border,” the professor said. Hinojosa is the founding director of the North American Integration and Development Center. The professor has written that illegal immigrants don’t simply “fill jobs–they create jobs.”
Brown spoke briefly about his recent trip to Mexico, where he discussed trade, renewable energy, and ways to speed up long waits at the Tijuana-San Diego international border crossing. The AP reported that Brown will host a luncheon in the president’s honor in Sacramento on Tuesday, and Pena Nieto will speak to the Legislature.
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