US and Mexico cooperate to combat fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration

“NIn my opinion, nothing is beyond our reach if Mexico and the United States stay together and work together”, Biden highlighted.

The relationship between the governments of the two countries has been tense, in part due to Biden’s willingness to criticize Mexico on issues such as the production of fentanyl and the murder of journalists.

López Obrador has not been afraid to ignore the US leader, having skipped a summit in Los Angeles last year where leaders addressed the issue of migration because Washington did not invite Cuba, Nicaragua or Venezuela.

In front of journalists, the two heads of state today showed smiles and exchanged compliments. Biden told López Obrador: “I couldn’t have a better partner”, while the Mexican leader called Biden a “good man” and “Extraordinary President”.

On the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference, taking place in San Francisco, Biden held a series of face-to-face meetings with other leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and the leaders of Japan and South Korea.

Biden and López Obrador have begun work on the migration debate as the US struggles to manage a growing number of crossings from the southern border.

The government officials also discussed fentanyl trafficking, especially after Biden reached an agreement with Xi to contain this opioid that kills around 200 Americans a day.

Mexico and China are the main sources of synthetic fentanyl trafficked into the US, with almost all of the chemicals needed to produce it coming from China, and the drugs are then mass-produced in Mexico and trafficked through cartels into the US .

The fentanyl and immigration crises are related, as human smuggling across the border is part of cartel operations that also include drug trafficking into the US.

There are a growing number of migrants at the border and arrests for illegal crossings along the US-Mexico line rose 21% to 218,763 in September. Biden has repeatedly argued that Congress must act to fix outdated immigration laws.

But in the meantime, his administration has developed policies that aim to dissuade migrants from making the dangerous and often deadly journey, while opening new avenues for legal immigration.

Mexico’s support is critical to any U.S. push to crack down on the southern border, especially since migrants from countries as far away as Haiti are making the trek on foot through Mexico and are not easily sent back to their home countries. .

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