A regional migration and drug smuggling crisis is expected to dominate talks between US President Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador when they meet later today, in what is his first trip to Mexico as president.
Mr Biden arrived in Mexico City late yesterday after a politically charged stop at the southern US border – his first since taking office.
He will meet Mr Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau one-on-one today and tomorrow, and also together in what is dubbed the “Three Amigos” summit.
While trade and environmental issues are also on the table, Mr Biden has put a surge in irregular migration and dangerous drug trafficking front and centre of his trip.
“Our problems at the border didn’t arise overnight,” Mr Biden tweeted after his arrival.
“And they won’t be solved overnight. But, we can come together to fix this broken system. We can secure the border and fix the immigration process to be orderly, fair, safe, and humane.”
On his way to Mexico, Mr Biden stopped for several hours in El Paso, Texas, a city at the heart of the troubled border.
He met with US officials at the Bridge of the Americas crossing, watching a demonstration of the latest border enforcement technology, as well as a customs sniffer dog. He later got out of his motorcade to inspect a section of the tall fencing that snakes between El Paso and its twin city Juarez on the Mexican side.
“They need a lot of resources. We’re going to get it for them,” Mr Biden told reporters after his visit to the customs post.
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