SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (PAYN’-yuh nee-EH’-toh) was greeted by dozens of protesters in Sacramento, California, criticizing his country’s detention of a U.S. Marine.
About 150 people, many waving American flags or holding signs calling for the Marine to be set free, rallied across the street from the historic Stanford Mansion, where a lunch reception for the president was being held on the last day of his two-day visit to the state.
At least three Republican lawmakers rejected the lunch invitation from Gov. Jerry Brown to protest Mexico’s incarceration of Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, who has been held since April after crossing the border with weapons.
Later Tuesday, Pena Nieto is scheduled to address a joint-session of the Legislature. At an event Monday in Los Angeles, Pena Nieto and Brown addressed the need for immigration reform.
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