At Friday’s assembly in San Francisco, the place they have been on the town for APEC, they have been largely complementary to one another. Biden and López Obrador have pledged to work collectively on two key points which have lengthy been the supply of battle between their two nations, though they haven’t introduced main new initiatives.
“We’re sincerely dedicated to persevering with to assist as finest we are able to to forestall drug trafficking, together with the entry of fentanyl and different chemical precursors,” López Obrador stated by way of an interpreter, including that Mexico is “totally conscious of the injury triggered”. This poses an issue for American youth.
“I need to inform you about my large dialog with (Chinese language President) Xi Jinping on this subject,” Biden advised López Obrador, an obvious reference to agreement that he concluded this week with the Chinese language chief to scale back the movement of fentanyl to america
The Mexican chief additionally thanked Biden for his administration’s work on migration, stressing that “additional progress should be made to fight the migration phenomenon.” We work on it collectively, in coordination.
Biden advised López Obrador he “could not have a greater companion.” The Mexican chief known as his counterpart a “good man” and an “extraordinary president.”
Republicans have sought to hyperlink Biden and his insurance policies to the inflow of migrants alongside the southern border and the proliferation of unlawful and lethal medicine, like fentanyl, coming into america.
In 2022, deadly drug overdoses capped however remained near a document degree. And in August, the variety of migrants crossing the US-Mexico border reached a record levelearlier than declining this fall after the reprise deportation flights to Venezuela. Degree crossings nonetheless stay unusually excessive and cities are struggling to adapt rising migrant populations.
The way in which Biden is dealing with the migration subject appears to be the best way he expected to continue to face in 2024.
In a September Washington Publish-ABC Information survey, 23 p.c of respondents stated they authorised of Biden’s dealing with of the immigration state of affairs on the U.S.-Mexico border, whereas 62 p.c stated they disapproved. That compares to twenty-eight p.c approval and 59 p.c disapproval in February.
This weekend, former President Donald Trump is anticipated to journey to the U.S.-Mexico border in South Texas to attempt to exploit these low numbers. There, he and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) will serve meals to members of Operation Lone Star, the state-led border crackdown, which has is the subject of several legal battles.
The Rio Grande Valley alongside the US-Mexico border, the place Trump will go to, was thought-about as an opportunity for Republicans to make progress with Latino voters.
The state’s GOP presidential major is not till March, but when Trump wins the race, it might give him a major variety of delegates. In 2020, Biden misplaced Texas by six factors, coming nearer than some other Democratic presidential candidate in years because the state’s demographics shifted.