1 year ago
48
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador said Monday successful the leadup to this week’s acme of North American leaders that helium would see accepting much migrants than antecedently announced nether President Joe Biden’s program to crook distant radical from 4 nations who transverse illegally into the United States.
“We don’t privation to expect things, but this is portion of what we are going to speech astir astatine the summit,” López Obrador said. “We enactment this benignant of measures, to springiness radical options, alternatives,” helium said, adding that “the numbers whitethorn beryllium increased.”
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s nationalist information adviser, cautioned that thing was decided yet.
“What we request is to spot however the programme announced past week works successful practice, what if immoderate adjustments request to beryllium made to that programme and past we tin speech astir taking the adjacent steps,” helium said.
The comments were a reflection of the highly delicate negotiations astir migration, which volition beryllium a cardinal contented during the two-day acme involving Biden, López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
All 3 nations are struggling to grip an influx of radical arriving successful North America, arsenic good arsenic ace down connected smugglers who nett from persuading migrants to marque the unsafe travel to the U.S.
Other issues connected the array see clime change, vigor and proviso chains.
Sullivan said Monday the travel would beryllium “a bully accidental for President Biden to deepen his idiosyncratic engagement with President López Obrador and Prime Minister Trudeau.”
Ahead of the summit, Biden announced a large displacement successful migration policy, which had been negotiated with Mexico. Under the plan, the U.S. volition nonstop 30,000 migrants per period from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela backmost crossed the borderline from among those who entered the U.S. illegally. Migrants who get from those 4 countries are not easy returned to their location countries for a assortment of reasons.
In addition, 30,000 radical per period from those 4 nations who get sponsors, inheritance checks and an hose formation to the U.S. volition get the quality to enactment legally successful the state for 2 years.
Biden arrived successful Mexico connected Sunday nighttime via the caller Felipe Angeles International Airport, a prized task of the Mexican president. The hub was christened past twelvemonth with fanfare, though it’s much than an hour’s thrust northbound of the metropolis center, has fewer flights and until precocious lacked accordant drinking water.
The 2 leaders took the agelong thrust into the metropolis halfway successful Biden’s limousine. López Obrador was fascinated by the statesmanlike conveyance known arsenic “the beast,” and said Biden showed it disconnected to him.
“He himself showed maine however the buttons work,” Lopez Obrador said.
The Mexican president described the 2 leaders’ archetypal brushwood of the travel arsenic “very pleasant,” and helium said “President Biden is simply a affable person.”
It was a notably lukewarm remark fixed that the men’s narration has been simply transactional astatine champion and absent the warmth and camaraderie Biden has with immoderate different satellite leaders.
On his mode to Mexico, Biden stopped successful El Paso, Texas, for 4 hours — his archetypal travel to the borderline arsenic president and the longest he’s spent on the U.S-Mexico line. The sojourn was highly controlled and seemed designed to antagonistic Republican claims of a situation concern by showcasing a creaseless cognition to process migrants entering legally, weed retired smuggled contraband and humanely dainty those who’ve entered illegally.
But the travel was apt to bash small to quell critics from some sides, including migrant advocates who impeach the Democratic president of establishing cruel policies not dissimilar those of his hardline predecessor, Republican Donald Trump.
The number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico borderline has risen dramatically during Biden’s archetypal 2 years successful office. There were much than 2.38 cardinal stops during the twelvemonth that ended Sept. 30, the archetypal clip the fig topped 2 million.
López Obrador volition formally invited Biden astatine the Palacio Nacional aboriginal Monday, the archetypal clip since 2014 that Mexico has hosted a U.S. president. The 2 leaders volition conscionable unneurotic up of a backstage meal for each 3 leaders and their wives. Biden and Trudeau volition clasp their ain talks Tuesday, and past the 3 leaders volition stitchery for the main acme discussions.
First woman Jill Biden arrived separately successful Mexico. On Monday, she met with women from the fields of education, creation and business, astir of them recipients of U.S. practice programs oregon scholarships.
“Do immoderate you privation but thatch others,” she said arsenic she encouraged the women to enactment unneurotic and enactment others.
For the U.S., the large acme talking points are migration, cause trafficking and gathering connected Biden’s propulsion connected electric vehicles and manufacturing. Mexico is focused connected economical integration for North America, supporting the mediocre successful the Americas and determination relationships that enactment each governments connected adjacent footing. Canada is looking to grow connected greenish initiatives.
The leaders of Canada and Mexico person voiced concerns implicit Biden’s “Buy American” plan. And portion Biden’s propulsion toward electrical vehicles is simply a boon to some U.S. neighbors due to the fact that of the taxation credits for North American batteries, there’s interest the U.S. allies volition beryllium near behind.
Meantime, the U.S. and Canada impeach López Obrador of trying to favour Mexico’s state-owned inferior implicit powerfulness plants built by overseas and backstage investors, thing that’s forbidden nether the 3 countries’ escaped commercialized pact.
Biden’s narration with Trudeau is warmer than with Lopez Obrador, but helium inactive hasn’t made it to Canada during his presidency, contempt White House officials saying for months helium planned to caput northbound pursuing a acme of the Americas successful Los Angeles past fall.
López Obrador skipped the California summit due to the fact that Biden didn’t invitation the authoritarian regimes of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. He’s besides made nary concealed of his admiration for Trump. And helium was 1 of lone 3 satellite leaders who didn’t admit Biden’s predetermination triumph until aft the ceremonial Electoral College ballot and the Jan. 6 insurrection astatine the U.S. Capitol.
Despite the fraught relationship, they admit each other’s importance, said Andrew Selee, caput of the migration deliberation vessel Migration Policy Institute successful Washington.
“They are some consummate politicians,” helium said. “They’re looking for what the different idiosyncratic needs, and they’re trying to marque wide what they need. It’s precise transactional. There isn’t a large imaginativeness for the narration close now.”
For Biden, that meant flying into the caller airport, 1 of 4 keystone projects López Obrador is racing to decorativeness earlier his word ends adjacent year, arsenic Mexico doesn’t let reelection. The different projects are an lipid refinery, a tourer bid successful the Yucatan Peninsula and a bid linking Gulf seashore and Pacific seaports.
López Obrador has faced overmuch disapproval implicit the airdrome that is expected to outgo $4.1 cardinal and was built aft helium canceled the partially constructed airdrome created by his predecessor. During operation of Felipe Angeles successful 2020, hundreds of mammoth skeletons were uncovered.
___
Associated Press writers Andres Leighton successful El Paso, Texas; Anita Snow successful Phoenix; Morgan Lee successful Santa Fe, New Mexico; Mark Stevenson successful Mexico City and Chris Megerian and Josh Boak successful Washington contributed to this report.
English (US)