The president of the United States, Joe Biden, will meet this Monday in Mexico with his Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel López Obrador to discuss the incessant illegal migration and fentanyl trafficking, two crises with no solution in the short term.
López Obrador announced that he will ask Biden the need to increase investment in the countries where undocumented people come from. “There is no in the president
Biden a negative. On the contrary, we agree “in this aspect, said the president in his daily conference, noting that he discussed the issue with his US counterpart after receiving him at the airport on Sunday night.
After his arrival, Biden remarked on Twitter that the “border issues did not arise overnight” and therefore “will not be resolved overnight.”
He added that his government is using the tools available to “limit illegal migration” and “expand legality,” but stressed that to fix this “broken” system, the US Congress “must act.”
Biden and Amlo (as the host president is known by his initials) will meet on Monday at 5:00 p.m. local time at the presidential palace in Mexico City, a day before holding the North American Summit together with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
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At the center will be the migration of undocumented people to the United States, a continental problem and a burning potato for Biden, reflected in 2.3 million arrests and expulsions of migrants in fiscal year 2022, five times more than in 2020.
“Let (Biden) put his hand on his heart (…), there are many children who separate them from their families,” Venezuelan José David Meléndez, 25, expelled just when the president was visiting neighboring El Paso, Texas.
Biden made a stop in that city before flying to Mexico for his first official visit, in an attempt to placate criticism for not having visited the troubled 3,100km border in two years in office.
(You can read: Presidents of Mexico, Canada and the US will discuss migration and security)
Immigration restrictions cause thousands to remain stranded in Mexico, especially due to Title 42, an anti-covid measure that authorizes the express expulsion of undocumented immigrants.
Biden arrived in Mexico with a limited migration program for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela -plunged into deep crisis- that will admit 30,000 people monthly for two years. Organizations such as the International Rescue Committee warn that partial measures “will only push asylum seekers into dangerous situations”, such as kidnappings by human traffickers.
“The (US) president is expected to push for more cooperation” on both fronts and for Amlo to demand something in return, possibly “less pressure” on trade issues.
Fentanyl, a synthetic drug 50 times more powerful than heroin, manufactured with precursors trafficked from China, will mark discussions on security. Nearly two-thirds of the 108,000 overdose deaths in the United States in 2021 involved synthetic opioids.
And in 2022 alone, more fentanyl was seized than would be needed to kill the entire population of the United States, according to the US drug enforcement agency (DEA).
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For this reason, Biden seeks to “expand the exchange of information” with Mexico on precursors and “strengthen prevention,” said the head of US diplomacy for Latin America, Brian Nichols.
The president’s entourage also includes the Secretaries of State, Antony Blinken; of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas; and of Justice, Merrick Garland.
With the presence of the special envoy for climate, John Kerry, global warming will also be on the agenda. At COP27, the two governments announced a joint renewable energy project involving 48 billion dollars of investment, in which Mexico committed to expanding its greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2030.
AFP
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