Mexican, US presidents to discuss migration, fentanyl trafficking on Tuesday

By Jorge Antonio Rocha

MEXICO CITY(AA) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced Monday that he will hold a video call Tuesday with US President Joe Biden to discuss migration, fentanyl trafficking and economic cooperation.

"I am going to have a video conference with President Biden...The topics: migration, fentanyl and economic cooperation for development...We have been looking to communicate, but we have not had the possibility because we were traveling. But now this has been agreed. We are going to continue talking about the cooperation we have, which is very good, and we are going to maintain this relationship," Lopez Obrador said during his daily morning briefing.

The call will take place following a visit to Mexico by Biden's Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall on May 2 in which she and Lopez Obrador discussed migration ahead of the end of the Title 42 immigration policy issued by then-President Donald Trump.

Following their meeting, Lopez Obrador announced that Mexico would continue to receive migrants expelled by the US after the disbandment of Title 42, a policy that relies on Mexico's willingness to welcome barred migrants.

While Lopez Obrador has praised his US counterpart for his efforts to tackle migration, he has been vocal against certain factions of the US government, especially towards Republican politicians such as Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and their anti-immigration policies, which he called "inhuman, vulgar and vile."

“On one occasion, the Texas governor also said he was going to place tanks with cannons on the border pointing this way, towards us. And now, what does he say? Helicopters. They can do it there in their territory, but not on this side of the border," he said.

Regarding fentanyl, a matter that Republican politicians have used to criticize Lopez Obrador's administration, the two leaders will discuss bilateral efforts after the Mexican government disclosed that a fentanyl shipment from China was discovered at a Mexican port. Both the US and Mexico have pointed out that fentanyl products and their precursors come from China.