The president of the United States, Joe Biden, will meet on Monday with his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to discuss the incessant illegal migration and fentanyl trafficking, two crises without a solution in the short term.
“Our problems at the border didn’t come overnight. And they will not be resolved overnight,” Biden admitted on Twitter after being received by López Obrador on Sunday night (8.01.2023).
Our problems at the border didn’t arise overnight. And they won’t be solved overnight.
But, we can come together to fix this broken system.
We can secure the border and fix the immigration process to be orderly, fair, safe, and humane. pic.twitter.com/dtP6IAJZMR
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 9, 2023
The president said that his government is using the tools available to “limit illegal migration” and “expand legality,” but emphasized 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 Monday afternoon at the presidential palace in Mexico City, a day before holding the North American Summit along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
At the center will be the migration of undocumented people to the United States, a continental problem and 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, cried out Sunday in Ciudad Juárez, expelled just as 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 a bid to placate criticism for not having visited the tumultuous 3,100 km border in two years of government.
Immigration restrictions cause thousands to remain stranded in Mexico, especially by 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 – mired in deep crises – that will admit 30,000 people monthly for two years.
Organizations such as the International Rescue Committee warn that partial measures “will only push those seeking asylum into dangerous situations,” such as kidnappings by human traffickers.
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