Biden Mexico news – live: President confronted by Greg Abbott over immigration

President Joe Biden has finally paid a visit to the US’s southern border with Mexico for the first time since taking office two years ago.

The president traveled to El Paso, Texas, on Sunday to visit the busiest migrant crossing and meet with Border Patrol agents, kicking of a three-day summit in Mexico.

During the visit, Mr Biden will hold tri-lateral talks with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss energy, economic cooperation, immigration and drug trafficking, especially fentanyl.

The trip comes just days after he announced his new immigration enforcement plan – something that has been slammed by both Democrats and Republicans alike.

When he arrived into El Paso, Mr Biden was instantly confronted by Texas Governor Greg Abbott who hand-delivered a letter outlining his demands for the border including declaring drug cartels to be international terrorist groups and continuing the construction of Donald Trump’s border wall.

His demands come after Mr Abbott has been slammed for a series of recent stunts, where he has bused migrants to Democrat-led cities and abandoned them without any support.

Key points

• Biden to meet López Obrador and Justin Trudeau in Mexico today

• Texas governor confronts Biden at airport

• Biden takes first presidential trip to US-Mexico border

What’s on the agenda of Biden’s talks with Mexican and Canadian leaders?

14:15 , Rachel Sharp

During President Joe Biden’s three-day summit, he will be holding talks with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

But the three nations all have different priorities from the meeting.

For the US, the major talking points are migration, drug trafficking and building on Mr Biden’s push on electric vehicles and manufacturing.

Mexico is focused on economic integration for North America, supporting the poor in the Americas and regional relationships that put all governments on equal footing.

Meanwhile, Canada is looking to expand on green initiatives.

Biden’s migration policy shift

13:55 , Rachel Sharp

President Joe Biden’s visit to the US’s southern border with Mexico comes after he announced a major shift in immigration policy.

Under the new policy, the US will accept 30,000 people per month from the four nations of Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela. The policy will be in effect for two years and migrants will be offered the ability to work legally in the US.

However, the new plan also includes sending around 30,000 migrants per month from those four countries back across the border to Mexico.

Texas governor confronts Biden at airport after complaining he wasn’t invited to border visit

13:35 , Rachel Sharp

Joe Biden was confronted by the governor of Texas on the tarmac on Sunday after the latter complained hours earlier that he had only been extended an invitation to meet him as an afterthought.

The moment occurred as Mr Biden touched down in the Lone Star State for a trip to the US-Mexico border, where he met with agents from US Customs and Border Protection as well as local elected leaders.

Read the full story here:

Governor confronts Biden at airport after complaining he wasn’t invited to border

Migrant crossings soared in last year

13:14 , Rachel Sharp

The number of migrants illegally crossing the US’s border with Mexico has soared to record highs in the last year.

In total, 1.7 million migrants were arrested at the border in the year ending October 2022 – the highest number since 1960, according to US Customs and Border Protection data.

Among them was 147,000 children who had crossed the border without a parent of guardian. The remaining included 1.1 million single adults and 479,000 people in families.

Biden’s schedule for Monday:

12:40 , Rachel Sharp

3.55pm CST – President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden depart to head to the National Palace of Mexico City, Mexico

4.15pm – Mr Biden and Dr Biden attend an official welcome ceremony hosted by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Dr. Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller of Mexico at The National Palace

5pm – Mr Biden participates in a bilateral meeting with Mr Lopez Obrador

6.45pm – Mr Biden and the first lady take part in a trilateral dinner with Mr Lopez Obrador, Dr Müller, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau

Republicans push Biden to maintain Trump’s zero-tolerance policies

12:20 , Rachel Sharp

Republican US representative Jim Jordan told Fox News that Joe Biden should adopt the zero-tolerance policies pursued by former president Donald Trump.

Mr Trump’s hardline policies on immigrants included separating children from their migrant parents.

“They’ve allowed now a situation where frankly, we no longer have a border,” Mr Jordan said.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said international crises and legislative gridlock limited Mr Biden‘s ability to reduce the number of migrants making their way to the United States.

“We’re just dealing with a broken system,” Mr Mayorkas told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Texas.

El Paso’s Democratic mayor declared a state of emergency last month, citing hundreds of migrants’ sleeping on the streets in cold temperatures and thousands being apprehended every day.

US border officials apprehended a record 2.2 million migrants at the border with Mexico in the 2022 fiscal year that ended in September, though that number includes individuals who tried to cross multiple times.

Jill Biden to fly to Mexico ahead of Biden, Lopez Obrador and Trudeau summit

12:00 , Rachel Sharp

En route to Mexico to be welcomed by the Mexican president and join her husband Joe Biden, the US first lady said in a Tweet that she was visiting the “beautiful” Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The president and first lady will participate in an official welcome ceremony hosted by president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Dr Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller of Mexico.

At 6.45pm local time, the two will participate in a trilateral dinner with Mr Lopez Obrador, Justin Trudeau of Canada, and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau.

Biden condemns storming of Brazil's National Congress

11:30 , Shweta Sharma

Joe Biden has issued a statement to condemn rioters for invading Brazil’s Supreme Court and its National Congress building, in violence reminiscent of the January 6 storming of the US Capitol in 2021.

“I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil. Mr Biden said during his visit to the US-Mexico border.

“Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined. I look forward to continuing to work with @LulaOficial.”

World leaders issued condemnatory statements as supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace then trashed the nation’s highest seats of power.

The protesters were seeking military intervention to either restore the far-right Bolsonaro to power or oust the newly inaugurated leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Message from US asylum hopefuls: Financial sponsors needed

10:30 , Shweta Sharma

Migrants and asylum seekers fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries have increasingly found that protections in the United States are available to those with money or the savvy to find someone to vouch for them financially.

President Joe Biden announced a massive expansion of humanitarian parole on Thursday for Cubans, Haitians, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans, which is reserved for those who apply online, pay airfare and have a financial sponsor for two years.

It builds on a measure introduced in October to admit 24,000 Venezuelans to the US for two years if they have sponsors – and, on the flip side, to quickly expel anyone crossing the border illegally back to Mexico, denying them a chance to seek asylum.

Message from US asylum hopefuls: Financial sponsors needed

Texas governor confronts Biden at airport after complaining he wasn’t invited to border visit

09:30 , Shweta Sharma

Joe Biden was confronted by the governor of Texas on the tarmac on Sunday after the latter complained hours earlier that he had only been extended an invitation to meet him as an afterthought.

The moment occurred as Mr Biden touched down in the Lone Star State for a trip to the US-Mexico border, where he met with agents from US Customs and Border Protection as well as local elected leaders.

The trip comes as the president has long faced criticism from conservatives for not viewing the situation at the US-Mexico border firsthand, as well as for rolling back controversial Trump-era immigration policies that were long decried by Democrats as inhumane.

Governor confronts Biden at airport after complaining he wasn’t invited to border

Crossings surge to highest level under Biden administration, reports show

08:30 , Shweta Sharma

Joe Biden’s visit to the Mexico border comes as immigration has seen levels trend up significantly since before the president took office.

In September more than 227,000 migrants were stopped by border agents, the most recent month for which data is available. More than 70,000 were expelled that month under Title 42.

In the same month in 2021, there were 192,000 migrants encountered by agents in the southwest border region, while just 57,674 encounters occurred in September of 2020.

The Biden administration just recently expanded that authority to create a new guideline authorising US Customs and Border Protection to turn away migrants from several countries in the hopes of stemming that tide.

In October of 2022 the system was invoked to turn away all Venezuelan migrants encountered at the border, with administration officials citing a massive surge of both individuals and families originating from the South American country.

Biden says summit with deepen shared priorities for North America

07:30 , Shweta Sharma

“I’m in Mexico to meet with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada at the North American Leaders’ Summit,” Joe Biden tweeted ahead of the 10th North American Leaders’ Summit in Mexico.

Mr Biden said the gathering will deepen the countries’ coordination and advance shared priorities for North America.

Texas governor confronts Biden at airport after complaining he wasn’t invited to border visit

06:30 , Shweta Sharma

Joe Biden was confronted by the governor of Texas on the tarmac yesterday after the latter complained hours earlier that he had only been extended an invitation to meet him as an afterthought.

The moment occurred as Mr Biden touched down in the Lone Star State for a trip to the US-Mexico border, where he met with agents from US Customs and Border Protection as well as local elected leaders.

Greg Abbott handed the president a letter outlining his concerns about the number of migrants encountered in the US-Mexico border region, which has steadily risen in the two years Mr Biden has been in office. The letter concluded with a list of demands that included steps not even taken by the Trump administration during the latter’s four years in power.

Those steps included declaring drug cartels to be international terrorist groups, potentially authorising US military action against them, as well as greatly expanding detentions and deportations of undocumented immigrants.

Biden to meet López Obrador and Justin Trudeau in Mexico today

05:30 , Shweta Sharma

Joe Biden will be greeted by his Mexican counterpart Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the Felipe Ángeles International Airport to kick off the first three-day North American Leaders’ Summit in a decade.

Mr Biden will first hold a closed-door meeting with the Mexican president at the National Palace before Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s arrival at 2.40pm local time.

Mr Biden will hold the summit with Mexico’s Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Mr Trudeau to discuss border issues, energy, economic cooperation and drug trafficking, especially fentanyl.

The summit will largely be focused on discussions to combat undocumented immigration and drug trafficking amid ongoing chaos in the country following the arrest of the son of El Chapo Guzmán, whose henchmen are now rampaging across Culiacán.

Following the 10th North American Leaders’ Summit, the three leaders will deliver statements to the media in the afternoon.

First lady Jill Biden is also travelling to Mexico to join Mr Biden and participate in an official welcome ceremony by the Mexican president.

Biden takes first presidential trip to US-Mexico border as officials report surge of crossings

04:45 , Shweta Sharma

Joe Biden visited El Paso, Texas as his administration faces important questions about how to address the ongoing tide of thousands of Central- and South Americans hoping to seek asylum in the US every month.

The president’s voyage marks his first trip to the US-Mexico border as commander-in-chief and comes specifically as his administration is fighting in the courts to end Title 42, a controversial public health protocol used by both the Trump administration and now his own as legal justification for turning migrants away at the border.

The Biden administration has seen levels trend up significantly since before the president took office, and most recently saw more than 227,000 migrants stopped by border agents in September, the most recent month for which data is available. More than 70,000 were expelled that month under Title 42.

Read John Bowden’s full report.

Biden takes first presidential trip to US-Mexico border

04:35 , Shweta Sharma

Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Joe Biden’s visit to Mexico for a North American summit, as well as his first presidential inspection of the US-Mexico border.