U.S. 
MEXICO CITY—President Barack Obama directly addressed the Mexican people on Friday in a televised speech, but on the issue of immigration, he appealed to distinct audiences in two different countries.
The president walked a careful line as he sketched his ideas for an immigration overhaul. He told his Mexican audience that legislation would provide a pathway to citizenship, but underscored that many in the U.S. want to see immigration laws aggressively enforced.
"We are a nation of laws, but we're also a nation of immigrants. Like every nation we have a responsibility to ensure that our laws are upheld," Mr. Obama said. "But we also know that, as a nation of immigrants, the immigration system we have in the United States right now doesn't reflect our values."
Mr. Obama's three-day trip to Mexico and Costa Rica, lasting through Saturday, could have implications for his domestic agenda. While administration officials have tried to elevate economic issues this week, immigration has remained prominently in the foreground.
On Friday, the president worked to build good will across the border, crediting Americans from Mexico and those of Mexican descent with helping to elect him and reminding listeners of his efforts to allow immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to stay in the country.
Mr. Obama drew cheers as he predicted that new immigration laws would be enacted.
Back home, though, Mr. Obama will return to a divided Congress where an immigration bill still faces uncertain prospects and has limited support among Republicans. A bipartisan group of eight senators collaborated on legislation, but not all of the architects of the plan are confident it can win approval.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), a key conservative voice, wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Friday that the proposal he helped craft still can be improved, opening the door to even more-stringent border-security measures and a tougher road for those who immigrated illegally, among other possible changes.
In Costa Rica on Friday night, Mr. Obama reiterated his support for an amendment granting equal immigration benefits to same-sex couples. But he also said at a news conference that he wasn't likely to get everything he wants in the legislation. He added that additional changes could be made later date.
Before Mr. Obama's trip to Mexico, administration officials noted the caution necessary in discussing new immigration laws while in Mexico, and said they expected Mexican officials to leave the issue to U.S. leaders to resolve.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto appeared to hew to that guidance at a news conference on Thursday, offering few words on immigration.
Still, Mr. Obama came to Mexico seeking cooperation on securing the border, while saying that the long-term solution to illegal immigration is a growing and prosperous Mexico where more people can work.
In Mexico, pressure to emigrate to the U.S. has eased, in part due to a tough labor market in the U.S. and steady growth in Mexico. More than 11 million Mexicans already live in the U.S.
"The pull factors stimulating emigration to the U.S. have changed," said Tony Payan, a visiting scholar at Rice University in Houston, who also credits improved border security for reducing emigration.
Immigration from Mexico, the home country of a majority of newcomers to the U.S., declined 3% in January from the previous year, the Inter-American Development Bank reported in a recent study.
Mexico's statistics agency also has documented the steady decline. Immigration from Mexico during the fourth quarter of last year was 29.4 people per 10,000 inhabitants, compared with 78.5 in the fourth quarter of 2006.
The recent dip in Mexican emigration to the U.S. may be only temporary.
"Structurally, Mexico still has high levels of insecurity," Mr. Payan said.
Many middle-class Mexicans see greater professional opportunities and better quality of life in the U.S. An improving job outlook in the U.S. could also boost emigration in the near future, said Jorge Bustamante, a sociologist and co-founder of the Tijuana-based think tank El Colegio de la Frontera Norte.
—Laurence Iliff and Juan Montes contributed to this article.
Write to Colleen McCain Nelson at colleen.nelson@wsj.com
A version of this article appeared May 4, 2013, on page A8 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: U.S. Immigration Overhaul Tests Mexican Partnership.
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