US and Mexico want to contain migration together

US President Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel López Obrador want to work together to curb migration from South and Central America and the Caribbean. In a video link lasting about 50 minutes on Friday, the two presidents reaffirmed the need to “develop stronger instruments to deal with regional migration flows,” the White House said after the conversation. Such efforts must be “fair, humane and effective.”

Biden’s spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, spoke of “constructive discussion” between the two sides. Unlike his predecessor, Donald Trump, Biden “has not threatened in any way” the Mexican president. According to a US government official, the White House has been working “hard” for a year to improve bilateral relations with its southern neighbor.

7,800 migrants daily at the southwest border

Ahead of the midterm parliamentary elections in November, mass immigration across the Mexican border is also weighing on the Biden administration and his Democratic Party. Over the past three weeks, US border guards have registered 7,800 undocumented immigrants a day at the southwest border – nearly five times the average for the years 2014 to 2019 and thus before the corona pandemic outbreak.

Rather than relying on border walls and threats like Trump, Biden believes that only a cooperative approach can succeed in the long run. Her government also points to the economic, security and climate pressures that drive people from the poorest countries to the United States.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on April 29 during a video call with US President Joe Biden : Credit: via REUTERS

After the virtual meeting, López Obrador announced on Twitter that his chancellor Marcelo Ebrard will travel to Washington on Monday “to discuss issues of cooperation for development” and the America Summit, which will bring together the countries of the American continent in Los Angeles in June. .

In turn, the Mexican president will visit Central America and Cuba from May 5 to 9. The stations are also Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, from where most migrants to the US depart. For López Obrador, who has barely traveled abroad since taking office in late 2018, the trip is an unusual step.