Historic Speech by Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon to a Joint Session of the California Legislature

Mexico and California are bound together by a common history and a shared destiny. We have deep common roots. Today, one out of every four Californians are of Mexican heritage. Our present brings us together because we are neighbors who share dreams, challenges and opportunities.

Our interdependence is also evident in our economic ties:

• The relationship between Mexico and California generates for this State almost 160 billion dollars a year, providing jobs for over 200 thousand Californians.

• Mexico is the main destination of California’s exports, buying about 20 billion dollars of its products each year.

• More than 2 million Mexicans visit California annually, spending around 1.5 billion dollars.

These numbers clearly show that our proximity is mutually beneficial.

In Mexico, we are proud of the enormous contribution that generations of people of Mexican origin have made to California’s progress.

Today I want to evoke the invaluable and exemplary cooperation between Mexico and the United States during World War II. As the workforce of this great country headed to the battlefront to fight for freedom, Mexico stood by the United States.

Back then, our countries set up the Bracero Program, through which more than 120 thousand Mexican workers came to this country, during the war, to harvest the crops, to prevent factories from closing, and to keep the American economy strong and able to sustain the war effort.

The program was extended until the sixties and more than 4 and a half million Mexicans joined the American labor force to consolidate the prosperity of this nation.

This lesson from our past shows us the way to forge a better future as partners in favor of freedom and progress.

Today, migrant workers are known for their passion, drive, talent and hard work.

A study conducted by the Council of Economic Advisers of the White House found that:

• Americans benefit from immigration, as immigrants complement and do not substitute local workers.

• Immigrant workers contribute to productivity growth and many of them are entrepreneurs.

• Immigrants contribute more in taxes than they receive in public services.

• Immigrants have a strong work ethic and their children assimilate easily into the American society.

I know that immigration is a controversial issue today in this great nation. But I strongly believe that Mexican and Mexican-American workers are a large reason for the dynamic economy of California.

The harvester in Delano, the dishwasher in Los Angeles, the construction worker in San Francisco, but also the executive in Silicon Valley, and the university professor in San Diego, all of them work hard every day for the prosperity of this state.

That is why it is important that we build bridges of understanding, dialogue and collaboration if we are to achieve greater well-being for our peoples.

Our nations will never find prosperity by closing their doors.

Few of the world’s economies are as complementary as those of Mexico and California. While your economy is capital-intensive, Mexico’s is labor intensive. Investment and labor complement each other.

To grow, Mexico needs investment from California and the rest of the Union, and the United States needs the strength, talent and capacity of Mexican workers to continue prospering.

Immigration is a natural phenomenon between two complementary economies, even more so if they are neighbors.

We must take a comprehensive approach to the phenomenon of immigration, considering its economic, political, social and cultural aspects. We need to make migration legal, safe and organized.

Today I invite you to work together with us in finding long-lasting solutions to immigration issues.

We are at a historical turning point. Future generations will judge us by the decisions we take today. Did we work together to provide organized and humane migration or did we continue to allow hundreds to die each year?

I want to assure you that Mexico does not encourage its citizens to migrate. I am a President who is not glad to see Mexicans migrating to the United States.

Our country loses a great deal with every woman, with every man, who crosses the border in search of better job opportunities.

Each year, migration separates thousands of Mexican families and communities, leaving children without parents and wives without husbands.

Migration carries off the best among us: our bravest, our youngest and our strongest people.

My administration is working hard to create the conditions that will enable each Mexican to find, in our own land, well paid opportunities for employment.

Legal, safe and organized migration is not only in the interest of American society. It is crucial for our migrants and their families and for that reason for the people of Mexico.

We are working to change Mexico and modernize our economy and society. We have made significant advances on several fronts:

First, one of our priorities has been to ensure law enforcement and stop criminal organizations. From my first day in office we launched a strong offensive against drug traffickers and organized crime to protect our people from violence.

We hit them, and we hit them hard. We got two unique world records:

• We seized the largest amount of cocaine in one single operation in the world: more than 24 tons.

• We seized the largest amount of cash coming from drugs in one single operation: more than 205 million dollars in cash.

As a consequence of our action, the price of drugs in American market grew by almost 50% last year.

I know that the war against crime will be long and costly. But I can assure you, we will not hesitate in this mission.

That is why bilateral cooperation with the United States Federal and local authorities is crucial to building a safer border.

Second, after ten years without significant legislative reforms, and despite an opposition-controlled Congress, we managed to pass vital reforms to the tax and pension systems. These actions represent decisive progress in strengthening our public finances. In addition, the Congress is approving a reform in the judicial system in order to establish oral trials and unanimously approved a new electoral reform.

Third, we are committed to maintaining sound economic and fiscal policies. Mexico is determined to become one of the most attractive destinations for investment in the world:

• Last year, foreign direct investment reached a record 23 billion dollars. In addition, around 800 thousand new jobs were created.

• We also achieved one of the lowest inflation rates not only in our history, but also the second lowest in the Western Hemisphere, and even lower than the American inflation for the first time in history.

• We have an ambitious 250 billion dollar, five-year infrastructure plan to build up and improve Mexico’s harbors, airports, and highways as well as to modernize our energy sector. This means investing 50 billion dollars each year.

Fourth, we are also determined to improve income distribution and to close the gap between rich and poor. To this end, we are channeling resources exceeding 100 billion dollars a year to social programs.

We are investing in our people like no other Mexican government before.

Fifth, we have also taken steps to protect our natural resources and contribute to the international campaign against global warming.

My government is implementing innovative programs that make the provision of environmental services a new source of income for indigenous people.

In 2007, we reforested more than one and a half million acres, contributing with more than 250 million trees to the United Nations’ ‘‘Billion Tree Campaign’’.

My administration also introduced a National Climate Change Strategy, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fostering the use of alternative energy.

California is a world leader in clean energy production and I am sure that we can exchange useful experiences and knowledge on this critical issue.

As part of our commitment, today both Governor Schwarzenegger and I will bear witness to the signing of an Environmental Cooperation Agreement.

This instrument will be an important step to a closer, more intense cooperation to address the environmental challenges faced by California and Mexico.

In sum, we have defined a clear route for Mexico, and we share a vision of what we want to achieve in the future: a modern, fair and safe country that no longer has to see its children leaving to foreign lands in order to find an opportunity to prosper.

Honorable members of the California Legislative Assembly;

Ladies and gentlemen:

The historic roots shared by Mexicans and Californians run deep.

This is evident in the 17 members of the Assembly and 9 Senators of Mexican heritage who serve in the great California Legislature. Nos sentimos muy orgullosos de ustedes.

I strongly believe that ensuring a better future for California and Mexico demands cooperation between us.

Ensuring a better future for California and Mexico requires making immigration an orderly, humane and safe process, respectful of human rights.

The choice is not between migration and security or between migration and prosperity. The choice is between a future of integration and success or a future of distrust and resentment.

The choice is ours. The time is now.

Let us work together to take advantage of the ways our economies complement each other to build roads to prosperity.

Let us move North America to the place it deserves as the leading, most competitive economic region in the world.

Let us together lead California and Mexico to a future of peace, security and justice. ¡Viva California! ¡Viva México!

Thank you very much.