WASHINGTON – U.S. Congresswoman Candice Miller (MI-10) today made the following comments regarding Felipe Calderón’s, the President of Mexico, address to a joint session of Congress:

“Today, the United States Congress hosted the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, during a joint session. And it is certainly always an honor to hear from foreign heads of states, especially those who are our neighbors. Unfortunately, President Calderón took this opportunity to criticize our nation’s process of governance and legislative rights. Even though the recent immigration law passed in the state of Arizona has spurred controversy; the state of Arizona is well within it’s rights to pass a law which calls for the enforcement of duly passed federal law. It is solely for the people of Arizona and the judicial system within our nation to decide its legality and implementation – not a foreign head of state.

“Our nation and it’s states have a sovereign duty to secure our borders and protect our citizens. I take offence to the interference by the President of Mexico and his government, when their immigration laws, including Article 67, are in fact strikingly similar with the Arizona immigration law which he spoke against today. President Calderón should be more concerned about building economic opportunity for his citizens so they do not have to rely on crossing the border illegally to seek better opportunities within our nation.”

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