Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador held a telephone call on Tuesday with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, in which he reaffirmed that the strategic collaboration between Mexico and the U.S. will continue on issues such as migration, a key issue on the bilateral agenda.
“On migration issues, they agreed to continue the close collaboration between the two countries in order to manage migratory flows in the region and increase actions to address the structural causes of migration in Latin America and the Caribbean,” the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE, Foreign Ministry) said in a statement.
This Tuesday, Biden called López Obrador to talk about the new executive order that limits as of this Tuesday asylum requests at the common border, one of the toughest immigration measures of the U.S. president.
The diplomatic representation indicated that the conversation was “fraternal and friendly”.
It noted that President Biden expressed his recognition to Mexico for the democratic and peaceful election day last Sunday, in which the Mexican people elected the first woman president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, future president.
Biden also highlighted that he has issued presidential permits to build three new border bridges and has authorized the start of construction on the U.S. side of the Mesa de Otay II border crossing.
In turn, López Obrador acknowledged that Biden “will go down in history as the president who does not build walls, but bridges”.
Both presidents agreed that a Mexican delegation will travel to Washington this week to present the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) and existing investment opportunities to U.S. officials and businessmen.
In addition, they will seek to discuss opportunities to expand the CIIT to Guatemala. This representation will be headed by the Mexican Foreign Minister, Alicia Bárcena, and the head of the Ministry of the Navy, Rafael Ojeda.
Biden’s order, announced after the victory of pro-government candidate Claudia Sheinbaum in the Mexican presidential elections, will allow limiting asylum requests and carrying out expedited deportations when a certain number of apprehensions of people who crossed the border irregularly are exceeded.
The White House reported in a statement that both leaders pledged in the call to “maintain their strong cooperation” until the end of López Obrador’s term, on October 1, when Sheinbaum will assume power, and to “ensure a stable and productive bilateral relationship” during the transition of power.
Previously, during his morning press conference, López Obrador reported that he planned to speak by phone this Tuesday with Biden about the new executive order restricting asylum at the border.
Biden announced the measure five months before the presidential elections in the United States, where migration is the priority of voters and the Democrat will compete against former President Donald Trump (2017-2021), who is pressuring the government with his anti-immigration rhetoric.
The next US president will have Sheinbaum as his counterpart in Mexico, who won with the promise to defend the country’s sovereignty no matter who gets to the White House, but planned to maintain López Obrador’s immigration policy.