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The White House on Thursday confused that it’s putting U.S. pursuits first when making coverage selections, emphasizing that it has a “constructive” relationship with Mexico after that nation’s president made a quantity of demands associated to migration coverage.
Lifting sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela, sending Latin American and Caribbean international locations $20 billion in assist a yr and granting authorized standing to Mexican unlawful immigrants in the U.S. had been amongst President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s demands of President Biden in alternate for the Mexican authorities doing extra to halt the surge of migrants to the U.S. border.
López Obrador was requested about these demands by “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi this week.
MEXICAN PRESIDENT SAYS THE ‘FLOW OF MIGRANTS WILL CONTINUE’ UNLESS THE US MEETS HIS DEMANDS
President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador speaks in the course of the each day briefing at Palacio Nacional March 12, 2024, in Mexico City, Mexico. (Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
“If they don’t do the things that you’ve said need to be done, then what?” she requested.
“The flow of migrants will continue,” Obrador responded.
Elsewhere in the interview, he emphasised the optimistic relationship between Mexico and the U.S., describing it as “very important” and “fundamental.” He additionally mentioned Mexico does plan to decelerate migration however desires the “root causes” of the disaster to be handled. He additionally mentioned he would proceed to attempt to safe his border even with out these demands being met.
In response, a White House National Security Council spokesperson advised Fox News Digital that Mexico is “an important partner on multiple areas” together with coping with migration, in addition to drug traffickers and financial cooperation, whereas pointing towards the feedback the Mexican chief made elsewhere in the interview.
“As President López Obrador noted in his interview with ’60 Minutes’ on Sunday, we mutually need each other. We are at a moment of incredible promise and consequence for the United States and Mexico with Mexico being our No. 1 trading partner. Last year, our bilateral trade hit a record $860 billion,” the spokesperson mentioned.
President Biden and Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Sophie Park/Hector Vivas)
The spokesperson famous the Biden administration’s technique to deal with the migrant disaster, which has included tackling “root causes” of migration, whereas additionally creating lawful pathways to the U.S. for migrants and enhancing regional enforcement. The spokesperson additionally talked about the Los Angeles Declaration for Migration and Protection, signed in 2022, in which international locations dedicated to measures to cut back migration in the Western Hemisphere.
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The spokesperson additionally mentioned López Obrador and President Biden “have a constructive relationship built on respect.”
“President López Obrador has been a critically important partner to President Biden in developing a constructive bilateral approach to addressing issues of mutual interest, including migration and counternarcotics cooperation,” the spokesperson mentioned.
However, the White House additionally emphasised that nationwide curiosity varieties the premise of coverage selections.
“As President López Obrador said, both Mexico and the United States are sovereign countries. We can have frank, candid and respectful conversations, and, at the end of the day, our policy decisions are based on what is in the best interest of the United States,” the spokesperson mentioned.
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The Mexican president’s feedback got here a day earlier than the president of Guatemala met with Vice President Kamala Harris on the White House to debate cooperation on migration.
Immigration is trying to be a prime subject in the November election, with each President Biden and former President Trump having visited the southern border with Mexico final month. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has been locked in a authorized battle with the state of Texas over its efforts to safe the border.
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Republicans have known as on the administration to reinstate Trump-era insurance policies, together with the Remain in Mexico coverage, which might preserve migrants in Mexico till their asylum claims are accomplished.
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