09/01/2023 22:04 (act. 09/01/2023 22:04)
Joe Biden has arrived in Mexico ©APA/AFP
US President Joe Biden meets with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the North America Summit in Mexico City on Tuesday. According to the White House, the main problems are migration, drug trafficking and climate change. For Biden, the issue of migration is of particular domestic political importance. The Democrat has long been under pressure over the growing number of illegal border crossings.
Republicans accuse Biden of triggering a crisis with his more liberal migration policies. Biden’s predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, made closing the southern border one of his priorities. Immediately after taking office, Biden initiated a strict course change and relaxed many regulations.
The number of illegal U.S. border crossings has increased dramatically recently: the U.S. Border Protection agency recorded more than two million U.S. entry attempts between October 2021 and October 2022 at the U.S.-Mexico border – a record.
Shortly before his visit to Mexico, Biden introduced new regulations with which he wants to curb illegal migration to the United States. He also visited the southern US border for the first time during his presidency on Sunday to see the situation for himself. From there, he traveled to Mexico and met López Obrador on Monday for bilateral talks.
Mexico is of central importance when it comes to migration because most migrants from Latin America arrive in the US via Mexico: the border between the US and the neighboring country to the south is about 3,200 kilometers long.