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Top US officials dispatched to Mexico
The Obama administration has boosted the number of federal agents along the U.S. border with Mexico. And, in advance of his meeting with President Calderon, Mr. Obama dispatched Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and other top officials to Mexico to formulate a coordinated response to the trafficking threat.
But some observers want cooperation to go further. Erika de la Garza directs the Latin American Initiative at Houston's Rice University. She offers this suggestion.
"To create a bi-national border authority where they would craft policies together," she said. "Making it more systematic and institutionalizing it would have greater benefits."
Immigration also a major concern
Immigration concerns will also likely surface in talks between Presidents Obama and Calderon. More than half the 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States are Mexican. During last year's presidential campaign, Mr. Obama pledged to pursue comprehensive immigration reform, but has not addressed the subject in detail since taking office.
A major complication in tackling the immigration issue is the global economic downturn, according to Ricardo Blazquez, director of the Center for Inter-American Border Studies at the University of Texas. Blazquez says, at a time when millions of Americans are out of work, any proposal perceived as aiding undocumented laborers stands almost no chance of passage.
"Immigration is a significant issue and will remain a significant issue," he noted. "I think the limiting factor would be the current state of economic affairs that really would not promote an open political resolution to the issue."
What about trade agreements?
The deep recession will also affect the two leaders' discussion of trade issues and commercial concerns. As a candidate, Mr. Obama said he favored renegotiating parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and criticized other trade pacts as lacking environmental and labor provisions.
But as president, Mr. Obama has repeatedly spoken out against protectionism, and shown no appetite to cancel existing trade accords.
On a separate issue, Mexico has protested America's revocation of a pilot program that allowed Mexican commercial trucks to enter the United States, imposing retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. exports. White House officials are offering no guarantees that Presidents Obama and Calderon will be able to resolve the dispute during Thursday's meeting.
Will Obama get enthusiastic welcome?
Visiting U.S. presidents do not always get the warmest of welcomes from all sectors of Mexican society. President George W. Bush's 2007 visit to Mexico sparked loud protests in several large cities, but President Obama is expected to be greeted enthusiastically, or at least politely, by most Mexicans.
Ricardo Blazquez says Mr. Obama should seize the opportunity his relative popularity on the world stage affords.
"The benefits of a productive relationship between Mexico and the U.S. are infinite," he said. "I think the option of a failed relationship can no longer exist and cannot be on the table. I think both leaders recognize this."
From Mexico, Mr. Obama heads to Port of Spain in Trinidad for the Summit of the Americas.