Biden and López Obrador meet today in Washington: what are the expectations?

President Joe Biden will receive this Tuesday his counterpart from Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who returns to the White House a month after his refusal to attend the Summit of the Americas even though he was on the guest list.

A meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris is also scheduled.

At the end of June, it was learned that the Mexican president planned to be this Tuesday in Washington. The White House had reported then that both leaders would discuss, among other issues, those related to bilateral trade, immigration, security and climate.

On Monday, a high-ranking Biden administration official confirmed that migration and the economy are two of the central issues at the leaders’ meeting.

“We hope to announce joint actions to improve border infrastructure that addresses irregular migration (…) We will commit to completing a multi-year plan,” the source told reporters.

So far in fiscal year 2022, half a million Mexicans have been detained at the southern border of the United States, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in an attempt to cross from irregularly the US borders.

The meeting comes at a time when inflation in Mexico reached 8%. A fact that, added to the economic consequences left by the pandemic, causes greater migration.

A clear request from Mexico

Mexico has a very clear request: that the United States extend more temporary visas for Mexican and Central American workers.

According to statements made in June by the Secretary of the Interior of Mexico, Adán Augusto López, the US government plans to approve 300,000 temporary visas.

A fact with which Juan González, adviser for Hemispheric Affairs of the National Security Council of the White House, agrees, but without committing himself to a specific number.

“It is important to clarify that in fiscal year 2021 we issued more than 350,000 temporary agricultural visas. (…) Today we are willing to expand that number based on need, ”he told the Voice of America.

Concern in the Senate

US Senators Jim Risch, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Bill Hagerty released a statement on US-Mexico relations, including economic engagement and the security and humanitarian crisis on the US southern border.

“As neighbors, the United States and Mexico have shared interests in a safe, prosperous, and democratic Western Hemisphere. I am concerned that those interests are being undermined by the security crisis on the US-Mexico border and the erosion of security and economic conditions in Mexico,” Risch said.

And it is that not only half a million Mexicans were caught trying to cross the US southern border. At least 956,936 migrants from other nationals, including Haiti, were also detained in that period.

Senator Cruz assured that “the breakdown of the rule of law” on the southern border is a danger to the national security of the United States.

The senators are in favor of beneficial relations between the two nations, but express concern about “the worsening investment climate in Mexico” and the “crisis” on the border.

They call for the prosecution of transnational actors who facilitate illegal migration to the United States. And also prioritize a detailed plan to reduce the production and trafficking of illicit narcotics in Mexico, including fentanyl originating in China.

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