AMLO tells Biden that “legislation that ignores the reasons for migration will be a dead letter”

(CNN Spanish) — After a telephone conversation between the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the President of the United States, Joe Biden, the United States Congress approved a “wasteful failure” law that ignores the causes of migration.

A statement from the government of Mexico, published this Saturday, indicates that during the call between the two leaders, López Obrador expressed that both Mexico and the United States are independent and sovereign countries that, of course, can define their own policies on migration.

“We express to President Biden that any legislation passed on this matter that ignores and does not address the causes of the immigration phenomenon is condemned to be a dead letter,” the statement details.

López Obrador also reiterated a 10-point proposal that Mexico previously presented to the Joe Biden administration, including US$20 billion for development in Latin American and Caribbean countries, immigration relief for Mexicans who “honestly” stay for five years. Working longer. America.

The proposal also includes the suspension of the US embargo on Cuba, the lifting of US sanctions on Venezuela, the fight against drug trafficking and the regulation of US arms exports to Mexico.

During a press conference in early January, López Obrador announced that his government had made some of those demands to US officials during their personal meeting in late December 2023, adding that Mexico was injecting “a lot of resources” into the issue. Immigration, but did not share details.

The Department of Homeland Security attributed the drop in migrant apprehensions along the US southern border, which it noted compared to January 2024 to December 2023, to improved enforcement efforts by Mexico.

For its part, the White House detailed in a statement published this Saturday that President Biden thanked Mexico for its operational support and for taking concrete steps to curb irregular migration while at the same time expanding legal channels.

“The two leaders reiterated their shared commitment to strengthen joint efforts to combat transnational criminal organizations involved in illegal trafficking of drugs, arms and people,” the statement read.