The president also noted that "the United States would have never become the economic power which it is today without immigrant labor." Calderón said that the U.S. will continue to lose its competitiveness in the world market if it keeps pushing anti-immigrant laws and sentiments. "It's (manufactured) products will be of lower quality than those produced (by immigrant labor) in other regions of the world," he said.
Although he did not mention it by name, Calderón likely had in mind a controversial new immigration law in Alabama, which among other things penalizes undocumented workers as well as the employers who hire them. Many Mexicans without lawful status have fled the state since its enactment, while others remain secluded in their homes, afraid to leave or even to send their children to school. Private groups as well as the Obama administration challenged the law in federal court, with the hope of dealing it a preemptive strike. Some provisions were temporarily enjoined while the court considers the litigation, but most remain in force. Several arrests of undocumenteds have occurred in recent days.
Calderón said that migrants do not present a threat to societies anywhere, but rather represent a natural process which the world has seen many times before. He also openly condemned U.S. deportation policy towards young adults and minors, many of whom were brought to the United States by their undocumented parents years ago.
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