President Andrés Manuel López Obrador recognized that the immigration authorities of Mexico and the United States have been overwhelmed given the increase in migrants, during yesterday’s press conference.
When addressing part of what was discussed in the meeting with the United States delegation, the president commented that it occurred after his counterpart Joe Biden expressed to him concern about the increase in migrants on the northern border, since there were 10 to 12 thousand migrants daily.
Although they are implementing actions, “sometimes the established procedure is exceeded. They have allowed the entry of 30 thousand migrants per month; “There are many needs in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, there is poverty, and people are looking for better living and working conditions.”
According to the data presented, as of December 21, up to 10,187 admissions were reached; However, “even with a complicated budget situation,” the control actions of the National Migration Institute (INM) have been intensified, which increased 8 percent, as of December 16.
The president said that one of the agreements, despite the situation, is that border crossings remain open.
“There is more and more movement on the border, on the bridges, we have to be vigilant so that the crossings are not closed. That agreement was reached,” he remarked.
The president added that deportations are not suspendedafter, at the beginning of the month, the INM said that they would be suspended due to lack of liquidity.
“No, that was clarified, that there has never been that situation, it is that many arrived, as had not been seen in a long time, but the situation is now normalizing,” he said.
“There came a time when the personnel of the United States, and also ours, were overwhelmed; It is nothing more than that they detained migrants, put them on a plane and returned them. No, it is a procedure that has to be done in accordance with normality,” he expressed.
They forget fentanyl
In their joint statement, the governments of Mexico and the United States left out the issue of combating fentanyl, despite the fact that the US authorities pointed out that it was one of the points that were discussed.
He was the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who, at the end of the meeting, shared that, “as we made clear this Wednesday in Mexico City, we are committed to partnering with Mexico to address shared challenges.”
These included “the management of unprecedented irregular migration in the region, reopening key ports of entry and combating illicit fentanyl.”
The fight against this drug has been a priority for the United States, given the serious crisis they are experiencing due to deaths due to drug use.
Between July 2022 and the same month of 2023 (latest data available), the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 106,661 overdose deaths in the country.
In the joint statement they highlighted that they will also seek to address the reasons why thousands of people are forced to leave their homes and walk to the United States.
