File Photo: US President Barack Obama (Associated Press)
US President Barack Obama is hosting Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (PAYN'-yuh nee-EH'-toh) at the White House and looking for help implementing his changing policies on immigration and Cuba.
Obama wants Pena Nieto to join him in pressuring Cuba to make democratic reforms now that the White House is moving to re-establish diplomatic and commercial ties. The US-Cuba estrangement had been a point of friction with Latin American countries, including Mexico, which had normal ties with the communist island nation.
Pena Nieto's government also could help spread the word of qualifications for Obama's plan to defer some 4 million deportations for immigrants in the US illegally. Two-thirds of the immigrants who are eligible are from Mexico.
Both actions from Obama in recent weeks drew praise from Pena Nieto.