WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Mexico on Wednesday with the goal of addressing the escalating migration issue, posing a significant political challenge for US President Joe Biden as he approaches an election year.
This unexpected Christmas week journey by the top American diplomat was hastily arranged as the opposing Republican Party urged Biden to take a tougher stance on migration as a condition for securing votes in Congress for one of his key priorities—support for Ukraine.
Approximately 10,000 unauthorized people attempt to cross the southern US border each day, nearly double the pre-pandemic numbers, with a fresh caravan of hundreds, if not thousands, departing on foot from southern Mexico last Sunday.
Overwhelmed by the influx, US border authorities have suspended several legal crossings to focus on processing migrants.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador discussed migration in a telephone call last Thursday with Biden, who agreed to dispatch Blinken, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House migration official Liz Sherwood-Randall.
Last Friday, Lopez Obrador announced that Mexico would “reinforce our plans” to handle US-bound migrants—most of whom are not Mexicans—acknowledging that the Mexican government is also strained in its enforcement efforts.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated that the US delegation would discuss the “urgent need for lawful pathways and additional enforcement actions” on migration with Lopez Obrador.
Influx of US-Bound Migrants
Under agreements with both Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump, Mexico has agreed, at least temporarily, to accommodate migrants seeking entry into the United States.
Andrew Rudman, director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, anticipated Blinken seeking additional support from Mexico to keep migrants within its borders, potentially through measures like temporary work permits.
“The Biden administration wants to show for its own domestic political reasons that they’re doing everything they possibly can,” Rudman commented, highlighting the challenge of seeking short-term solutions to a longstanding, global problem.
Most migrants, Rudman noted, are driven by a rational decision that life in the US would be better. The majority of migrants originate from Central American countries grappling with poverty, violence, and climate change-induced disasters.
Maria Alicia Ulloa, a Honduran participant in the latest caravan, expressed the hope that US and Mexican officials meeting on Wednesday would find ways to assist migrants. She emphasized the critical situation in their home countries, fearing that stricter US-Mexican immigration measures could mean returning to a nation plagued by crime and unemployment.
“We emigrate with the hope of giving a better life to our children and a better life to the relatives who remain behind,” she added.
