The United States Department of State announced that next Friday, April 29, the Presidents of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the President of the United States, Joe Biden, will hold a telephone call to discuss migration and border issues. The Mexican press believes this is no coincidence after the announcement of Obrador’s visit to Cuba.
While not providing many details, the sources maintain that the request for dialogue from the White House came at a time when Biden was laying out a six-point deportation plan in light of the potential repeal of Section 42. This was the measure that forced migrants awaiting the decision of the United States on Mexican territory.
This deportation plan would strengthen the border with Mexico, and one of its points is to improve the efficiency and processing of cases at the border to reduce congestion at immigration stations. However, a federal judge in Louisiana announced that he would block the government’s decision to repeal Title 42 on May 23.
In addition, the White House has pledged to comply with the Louisiana judge’s decision in granting the restraining order. Paradoxically, once Title 42 is repealed, the Biden administration intends to significantly expand expedited deportations at the border.
He also spoke to representatives of the Cuban government this week. The United States urged the island to accept more deportees while offering more visas through its embassies outside of Cuba. The Biden administration wants quick deportations and an increase in forces stationed at the border, which will be joined by another 600 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel.
It is very likely that the US President will provide further explanations to his Mexican counterpart in the telephone call in which López Obrador will ask his neighbor for a new policy towards Latin America to get to the root causes of migration, according to the State Department will.
Another goal of the Biden initiative, according to sources, would be to focus the efforts of various government agencies and modernize procedures through digital tools.
It would also encourage working with NGOs so they can take in immigrants after their cases have been processed in the United States and await a decision on whether they can remain in the United States or be deported.