Obama meets with Mexican leader on immigration, Cuba

WASHINGTON, United States — President Barack Obama prepared on Tuesday, January 6, to welcome his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto for talks centering on immigration and US plans to restore diplomatic ties with Cuba.

Another topic of discussion could be the disappearance and likely massacre of 43 Mexican students at the hands of police-linked gangsters in September in the southern town of Iguala, a tragedy that has triggered a major scandal for Pena Nieto.

In a letter to Obama, Human Rights Watch said the Pena Nieto administration has failed to take the crisis seriously and Obama should “call them on it.”

On immigration, Obama announced in late November a series of measures offering some five million people living in the country illegally – out of a total of 11 million – temporary legal status. Two-thirds of the people that can benefit from the reform are Mexican, according to the White House.

Starting in spring, any undocumented foreigner who has been living in the country for more than five years, and has a US-born child or one with permanent US residency, can file for a three-year work permit.

Mexico has welcomed this change as restoring “dignity” to hundreds of thousands of people.

Mexico and the United States, which share a 3,200 kilometer border, also worked together closely last summer to deal with a flood of unaccompanied Central American children crossing through Mexico into the United States.

Three-quarters of them came from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Mexico’s president was an important partner in handling this crisis, a US administration official said.

“The presidents will discuss how they can continue to work together to avoid a renewed surge in migrants this year, and to minimize the number of people that undertake this dangerous trip,” the official added. 

Pena Nieto has been under intense pressure since the disappearance  of the 43 students in Iguala. They were allegedly handed over by police to a drug gang called the Guerreros Unidos. The president was perceived as having taken too long to act in the crisis and his approval ratings have plummeted. 

A total of 90 people – police, drug traffickers and government officials – have been arrested so far in that case. — Rappler.com