United States President Joe Biden on Friday (4/29/2022) tried to coordinate a joint strategy with his Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the face of the “unprecedented” flow of migrants arriving at the common border.
Both leaders had a virtual meeting that the White House called “constructive” and López Obrador called “cordial,” at a time when Biden is concerned about the arrival of an unprecedented number of undocumented immigrants at the U.S. southern border two decades. .
“Most of the conversation was centered on migration, and it was about (…) taking steps to reduce migration at the (common) border,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at her daily news briefing .
The virtual meeting, to which the press had no access, took place a few weeks before the IX. Summit of the Americas, scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, California in June, at which both heads of state and government are expected to meet in person.
Biden and López Obrador agreed that given the “unprecedented” arrival of immigrants from across the hemisphere in both countries, “stronger tools” need to be put in place to manage increases in regional migration, the White House said in a statement.
“To achieve this, they have agreed to enhance cooperation to support fair, humane and effective efforts to reduce irregular migration and advance the common goal of countries in the region to improve their ability to manage their borders,” it says in the statement.
March saw an unprecedented record in 22 years for arrests of undocumented immigrants at the US-Mexico border: border officials intercepted migrants 221,303 times, up 33% from February, according to data from Customs and the US Border Protection Agency (CBP). .
The nationality of arriving migrants is also changing: 40% of migrants intercepted in March were not from Mexico or Central American countries, and many were from Cuba, Nicaragua or Colombia, according to the same data.
Currently, the United States is automatically deporting the majority of undocumented immigrants who arrive at its southern border without giving them an opportunity to seek asylum, under a rule known as Title 42, which is being protected by the pandemic.
gs (efe, afp, ap)