(Mexico City) Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced on Monday that he would discuss the migration crisis with his American counterpart Joe Biden on Tuesday, a few days before the lifting of health rules in the United States which raises fears of an increase in entries illegal.
The videoconference will take place from 11:30 a.m., the Mexican head of state said during his daily press conference. “I’m going to have a call, a videoconference with President Biden tomorrow. Topics will be immigration, fentanyl and development cooperation,” he said.
President Joe Biden’s administration intends Thursday to lift “Title 42,” a strict protocol put in place by his predecessor Donald Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic to deny entry to migrants and deport asylum seekers.
The lifting of this measure makes the authorities of the two countries fear a spike in illegal entries into the United States.
On Tuesday, the United States announced that it was deploying 1,500 additional troops to help provide security at the US-Mexico border in anticipation of a possible increase in illegal crossing attempts. They will be added to the 2,500 soldiers already assisting the border police.
PHOTO GUILLERMO ARIAS, FRANCE-PRESSE AGENCY
An aerial view of migrants standing between border fences as they wait to be processed by US authorities, in Tijuana, Mexico on May 6.
The border between the United States and Mexico will not be “open” next week, despite the announced lifting of this health measure which made it possible to expel migrants without delay, the American Secretary of Homeland Security assured on Friday.
On the same day, the Mexican president had urged migrants not to be fooled by smugglers who spread the rumor that they will now be able to enter the United States freely.
The US administration plans to deter illegal immigration from now on with Title 8, which will deny any future legal residence in the event of clandestine passage.
Washington stresses that migrants and asylum seekers must now register with immigration officials in their own country or those through which they pass.