Following the conclusion of the two-day North American Leaders’ Summit in Mexico City on Tuesday, the leaders of all three countries – US, Canada, and Mexico – agreed to “work together” to deal with the “unprecedented” migration crisis.
BIDEN’S REMARKS
In a joint press conference, US President Joe Biden affirmed, “We’re true partners, the three of us, working together with mutual respect and a genuine like for one another to advance a safer and more prosperous future for all of our people,” adding, “We cannot wall ourself off from shared problems.”
Today, I'm sitting down with Prime Minister Trudeau and President Obrador to make commitments across a range of challenges facing North America.
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 10, 2023
From drug trafficking and climate to addressing irregular migration, our partnership is crucial to delivering concrete results.
Additionally, Biden referred to the new changes in the border policies, wherein the US increased the number of lawful migrants from 24,000 to 30,000 from Nicaragua, Haiti, Cuba, and Venezuela. The US president thanked his Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel López Obrador “for stepping up to receive into Mexico those not following the lawful pathways we’ve made available, instead of — attempting to unlawfully cross the border between our countries,” while acknowledging that the problem was “putting real strain” on both Mexico and the US.
OBRADOR’S RESPONSE
Obrador asserted that Biden was the first president “that has not built not even one meter of wall,” referring to former US President Donald Trump. He further revealed that he urged Biden to ask Congress to “regularise” the millions of Mexicans, who are living and working in the US “and contributing to the development of that great nation.”
President Biden is leaving the North American Leaders Summit. Despite all the optimism he, Lopez Obrador and Trudeau left everyone with more questions than answers. There’s no convincing plan how to handle the migration challenge in a humane way. pic.twitter.com/SEdxE0OD09
— Ines Pohl (@inespohl) January 11, 2023
Obrador called for an “in-depth solution” to the problem and addressing the “root causes,” explaining that “migration has to be an optional thing, not a forced situation.” “We have to try for people to be able to work and be happy where they were born — where their relatives, their customs, their traditions, their cultures are. And we need to invest for that,” he affirmed.
On a separate note, the Mexican president condemned Texas’ Republican Governor Greg Abbott for spearheading a movement involving dropping migrants to New York and Washington, calling it “politicking” and “inhuman.” Furthermore, he expressed his gratitude toward Canadian PM Justin Trudeau for granting temporary working visas for labourers, which has proved to be beneficial for 25,000 Mexicans.
We are not just neighbours and partners. Our people share bonds of family and friendship, and value freedom, justice, human rights, equality, and democracy. Read the Declaration of North America, issued at the North American Leaders’ Summit today: https://t.co/HUWxeJl5Vz
— CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) January 11, 2023
JOINT DECLARATION
In a joint declaration, the three leaders reaffirmed their commitment “to safe, orderly, and humane migration under the Los Angeles Declaration,” including “assisting host communities and promoting migrant and refugee integration; providing protection to refugees, asylum seekers, and vulnerable migrants [...] and collaborating to counter xenophobia and discrimination against migrants and refugees,” among other issues.
IMMIGRATION ISSUE
The southern border of the US saw a massive increase in illegal border crossings, as 2.4 million arrests were made along the border since 2021, including people who tried to cross more than once. Many have also been expelled under the Trump-era Title 42 border restrictions.