Calderon challenges US Congress on guns, drugs, immigration (Roundup)

May 20, 2010, 18:05 GMT

Washington - Mexican President Felipe Calderon told US lawmakers Wednesday that tackling the twin challenges of drug trafficking and illegal immigration was the responsibility of both countries.

In a speech to a joint session of the US Congress, Calderon said assault weapons coming from the United States were fuelling the drug violence in his country and called on lawmakers to stem the flow of guns across the border.

The war against drugs and organized crime in Mexico has claimed thousands of lives as the country's military fights to restore order along its border regions with the US. Calderon said it was also up to the US to reduce its dependence on illegal drugs.

'We cannot ignore the fact that the challenge to our security has roots on both sides of the border,' Calderon told lawmakers. Drug production had its 'origin' in the high demand for illicit narcotics in the US and other countries.

Calderon called on Congress to reinstate a ban on assault rifles that was lifted in 2004, weighing into the politically sensitive topic of gun control in the United States.

Calderon argued the lifting of the US ban in 2004 directly 'coincides' with the rise in violence in Mexico. He warned that criminals in the US, too, might one day turn assault rifles on US authorities.

'Let us work together to end this lethal trade that threatens Mexico and your own people,' Calderon told Congress.

US President Barack Obama, who met with Calderon Wednesday, promised to continue finding ways to cut back on the demand for illicit drugs and step up inspections of railways into Mexico to prevent arms from ending up in the hands of the cartels.

The Obama administration also favours reinstating the assault weapons ban, but has done little to push the issue through a skeptical Congress. Powerful US pro-gun lobbies like the National Rifle Association have fiercely resisted the ban.

Calderon said stemming the tide of immigration from Mexico to the US was another common challenge. Mexico was working to lift its economy and encourage fewer people to leave. But he again slammed a controversial immigration law passed by the state of Arizona.

The Arizona law passed in April requires law enforcement to stop individuals suspected of being in the country illegally to check their papers. Calderon charged the law had introduced the 'terrible idea (of) using racial profiling as a basis for law enforcement.'

'We favour the establishment of laws that work, and work well,' he said. 'We must find together a better way to face and fix this common problem.'

Calderon's speech comes as US lawmakers are hotly debating comprehensive reforms of the US immigration system. But some politicians have rejected Mexico's calls for reform.

Republican Congressman Lamar Smith, in a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Wednesday, said the US had the right to impose strict immigration controls 'without the interference from officials of the Mexican government.'