Arizona casts a shadow over state visit

President Barack Obama greeted the Mexican President Felipe Calderon with all pomp and circumstance on the south lawn of the White House. In response Calderon called for the border between the two countries to unite our two peoples rather than divide them.

But the shadow of the Arizona law was casted over his remarks. He called it "discriminatory," though President Obama was more discrete in describing it as "a misdirected expression of frustration" over immigration law. Both argued for a comprehensive immigration reform. Calderone reiterated his sentiments before a joint session of the U.S. Congress (see LA Times [1] ).

Michelle Obama also stumbled into the debate when visiting a Maryland school with Margarita Zavala, Mexico's first lady. The NY Times [2] reports this exchange between her and a second grader:

"My mom," the girl started hesitantly, "she says that Barack Obama is taking everybody away that doesn't have papers."
"Yeah, well, that's something that we have to work on, right?" Mrs. Obama answered. "To make sure that people can be here with the right kind of papers, right?"
"But my mom doesn't have any papers," the girl said.