Immigration, Trade Top McCain Agenda

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.

MICHELE NORRIS, host:

And I'm Michele Norris.

Today, John McCain wraps up a three-day trip to Latin America. The Republican presidential candidate spent his day in Mexico City. He has used this trip to talk about immigration, free trade, and the fight against drug cartels.

NPR's Jason Beaubien is our correspondent in Mexico City, and he spent some time today with the McCain campaign. Hello, Jason.

JASON BEAUBIEN: Good afternoon.

NORRIS: First of all, what was Senator McCain up to today?

BEAUBIEN: He was meeting with business leaders, he also had a meeting with President Felipe Calderon here, and he said that the main issues on the table were immigration, drugs, and trade. In addition to that, he went and toured the federal police station - the federal police is sort of the lead agency in Mexico's fight against the drug cartels. He went and saw a lot of their equipment, they were showing off their helicopters. He's trying to get a feel for some of the efforts that they're making in the war against drug cartels here in Mexico.

NORRIS: As is the case when he's traveling here in the States, his wife Cindy McCain is usually by his side, and I understand they took in some of the sights there.

BEAUBIEN: That's true, they did. She was by his side today. They went and they toured the Basilica Guadalupe, which is one of the most important Catholic shrines here in Mexico. They also were - they were there with Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida. They managed to get around and see some of the sights; it's a little bit difficult in Mexico with the terrible traffic.

But he also said this was about strengthening relationships, strengthening the relationship between the U.S. and what he says is one of its most important allies in the region.

NORRIS: Now, John McCain has faced some criticism and actually bewilderment from the Republican Party for taking time away from the campaign trail in the States and heading instead to Colombia and Mexico. After three days, is it any clear why he made these countries a priority?

BEAUBIEN: He's saying that Mexico and Colombia are two of the most important countries in this hemisphere in terms of their relationships with the United States, in terms of the war on drugs. The cocaine starts in Colombia, it's being funneled through Mexico into the United States. And obviously, with Mexico sharing this border with the United States, immigration is a huge issue.

And that relationship between the U.S. and Mexico is a tricky one. He talked about how important it is to work out illegal immigration, to deal with illegal immigration. He says that the U.S. must secure its borders first. At the same time, he was reaching out to Mexico in saying that both countries, both the U.S. and Mexico, need some form of a temporary worker system, and he was trying to smooth over some of that, sort of, difficult relationship between our close neighbor.

NORRIS: McCain's Latin American swing include, as we said, a visit to Colombia and his trip to Colombia was somewhat overshadowed by the release of hostages there. It's interesting that this - that he was in the country when that happened. Did he offer any insights as to what he was told about that mission?

BEAUBIEN: He said that he was briefed ahead of time by President Uribe in Colombia, that this operation was about to happen. He said today that this happened with strong and necessary assistance of the United States. He didn't elaborate on that, but he did say that this operation - this really dramatic operation - to free these 15 hostages was done with U.S. assistance. But as I say, he didn't go into any details about what that type of U.S. assistance was.

NORRIS: Thank you, Jason.

BEAUBIEN: You're welcome.

NORRIS: That was NPR's Jason Beaubien speaking to us from Mexico City. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.