On day two of Mexico Summit, Mexican president thanks Biden for not adding to border wall
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Tuesday thanked President Joe Biden for being the first president in a long time that has not built "even one meter of wall" along the U.S.-Mexican border.
His comments came at the end of a two-day North American Leaders Summit that was preceded by an agreement from Mexico to accept the return of migrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba who enter the U.S. illegally. In exchange, the United States agreed to create a new legal pathway for up to 30,000 people each month from those countries who have a sponsor and pass background checks.
But those and other changes announced by Biden before the summit were criticized by both immigration opponents as too lax and by immigration supporters as too similar to former President Donald Trump’s hardline approach.
“Both extremes are wrong,” Biden said at the joint news conference held with López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
He added: “It’s a basic middle proposition.”
In addition to migration, other issues the leaders discussed over two days included making North America a “clean energy powerhouse” and strengthening supply chains for critical minerals, electric vehicles and semiconductors.
The latest
The three leaders met jointly Tuesday following Biden's one-on-one with Trudeau Tuesday morning and his sit-down with López Obrador on Monday.
President Joe Biden kicked off day two with a bilateral meeting with Trudeau, where the two leaders discussed clean energy and support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Biden said Trudeau has "always been there" when he reached out. He also said he intends to travel to Canada in March.
Trudeau warned Biden against Buy American policies that Canada views as an impediment to free trade, according to the prime minister’s office. But their meeting was still chummier than Biden’s discussion Monday with López Obrador. Mexico’s president urged Biden step up support economic development and what he called “this abandonment, this disdain, and this forgetfulness for Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Making progress: The three leaders already have announced key steps on several issues, including setting up a forum with industry to increase investment in semiconductor supply chains; committing to reduce methane emissions from solid waste and wastewater by at least 15% by 2030 from 2020 levels; working to improve coordination and address the root causes of migration; cooperating against labor and sex trafficking; promoting racial justice and equity in public policies; and combatting violence against LGBTQ people.
This is the 10th North American Leaders Summit. Biden held the last one in November 2021 in Washington, D.C.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Want to know more? Here’s what you missed.
Day one of North American Leaders' Summit: Biden is in Mexico City. His first action? Asking the Mexican president for help with fentanyl
What's on the agenda: Biden, visiting Mexico, will highlight rising fentanyl deaths and record migrant crossings
From the El Paso border: Biden faces pleas for help on migrant crisis as he visits El Paso in first trip to border
Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden in Mexico: US talks migration, supply chains, climate change
