Ricardo Salinas Pliego at Arizona State University. (Photo: Mike Reicher)

PHOENIX — Just a day after the local sheriff started an illegal immigration sweep, Mexican billionaire and telecomm magnet Ricardo Salinas Pliego told an audience here Friday that “hysterical voices of racists and isolationists” stood in the way of U.S. – Mexico relations.

Pliego was speaking to journalists at the SABEW conference at Arizona State University. He said that fortifying the border was “a totally mistaken policy” and that the two countries should instead be exploring new economic partnerships.

Also, Pliego suggested that the United States should consider legalizing narcotics in order to neutralize drug violence.

[VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP]

“If we do not collaborate more actively, violence will become a problem in the U.S. too,” he said.

Pliego has a serious stake in the U.S.: Since 2001 he has run Azteca America, a Spanish-language broadcasting network targeting the over 40 million Hispanics living here. He also studied at Tulane University, where he met his wife in the MBA program.

While Pliego acknowledged that Mexico’s corrupt politicians and arcane public policies hindered its economic growth, he said that there’s much America can do to help.

He pointed to the cross-border sister-city partnership between Brownsville, Ariz. and Matamoros in the Mexican state of  Tamaulipas as a fine example. There, he said, high-tech U.S. companies have been hiring “reasonably-priced” Mexican workers. “We can create more situations like this further away from the border,” Pliego said.

NAFTA has been a success in his opinion. “It started off in a rough way, but the problems have been going away,” he said.

More fundamental issues, though, rest with the American public, he said. “A great deal depends not on laws but attitudes,” Pliego said. “It’s much concern to us to hear about xenophobic initiatives, some of which are from right here in Phoenix.”

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office launched a two-day crime and immigration sweep on Thursday. Officials say it’s focused on drop houses, drug violators and human smuggling vehicles, but critics say the sheriff’s deputies racially profile Mexicans.

Pliego called on the journalists in the room to help change Americans’ perceptions of Mexicans — from all about drugs and violence to a more fair, complete picture.

Also, he said, drug violence is fueled by American behavior, with money and arms flowing south from US. “We should acknowledge the pattern is changing,” he said.

One solution Pliego proposed for America is to legalize marijuana and all other narcotics. “Why not get rid of the whole issue of gangs and trafficking and violence and treat it as a medical problem,” he asked. California has a ballot initiative this fall that would legalize marijuana.

Hear what Pliego said about legalizing drugs in the U.S. and why the war on drugs hasn’t worked:

The Obama administration, though, wasn’t making progress in the areas Pliego thought most important for cross-border relations. It needs to tackle issues beyond health care, he said: “Fair immigration reform on this side of the border would help us reduce illegal immigration dramatically.”