Calderón: Congress can find common ground on immigration

DAVOS, Switzerland — The United States must create a more flexible immigration system if it wants to end illegal migration, former Mexican president Felipe Calderón said Wednesday in an interview with USA TODAY.

Calderón, in Davos for the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, praised President Obama's executive order allowing Mexican migrants who have U.S.-born children and have lived and worked trouble-free in the U.S. for at least five years to stay in the country without fear of deportation. But Calderón said he fears it will be short-lived.

"The Republican Congress could reverse (Obama's executive action) for political revenge," Calderón said. That would be disastrous for Mexicans living in the United States, he added.

Obama, in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, said he would veto any bill that attempts to undo his actions on immigration. The country cannot afford to have Congress "refighting past battles on immigration," Obama said.

The House of Representatives voted last week to reverse Obama's immigration orders by attaching them to the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, which runs out of money Feb. 27.

The House also voted to end deportation protection granted by the president to more than 600,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

During Calderón's presidency, migration to the United States slowed to a trickle as the Mexican economy grew. Immigration picked up in 2012 after a recession that began in the U.S. in 2009 spread to south Mexico, Calderón said. When President Enrique Peña Nieto took office in 2012, Mexicans expected their country's economy to soar. Instead, it soured.

Most Mexicans come to the United States "looking just for opportunity for more revenue," Calderón said. "They're not looking for a new country with a new family."

While they come looking for work, they often stay because they can't return freely to Mexico without risking running afoul of U.S. immigration law, he said.

Calderón said he believes Republicans and Democrats could find common ground. A program to allow Mexicans to work seasonally in the U.S. would provide the labor the U.S. needs while giving Mexicans the jobs they seek, he said.

"If you provide flexibility, many Mexicans will go home," he said.