Mexico’s President AMLO Regresses Because New Biden Regime
Back in 2018 I wrote that I suspected that Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (“AMLO”) might get along with Trump. They actually did get along quite well. And AMLO cooperated with Trump on reducing Central American illegal immigration and on the Remain in Mexico policy, which required “migrants” to stay in Mexico while their asylum cases are processed.
AMLO also recognized that the 2020 election was questionable and refused to congratulate Biden until his victory was official. And he criticized Big Tech’s censorship of Donald Trump. That puts him way ahead of many Americans.
But the Biden Era has now begun. So AMLO is now gung-ho for Sleepy Joe.
Reporter Julio Omar Gomez recently asked about the Biden executive orders “in favor of Mexico” [his words], AMLO’s offered this answer:
Well, we are very much in agreement that they cancel the construction of the wall. This is a subject that we celebrate because the wall has been under construction for some time. To be very objective, Democrat presidents, as much as Republican presidents, have constructed their sections of the wall … and now President Biden decides that now he is not going to construct a wall on the border.
[Versión estenográfica. Conferencia de prensa del presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador del 12 de febrero de 2021 (“Stenographic Version, Press Conference of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of February 12, 2021”), Gob.mx, Feb. 12, 2021 ]
AMLO gave a detailed history of border barrier construction under Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump, but concluded that Biden’s immediate cancellation “is a very good decision.”
And Amnesty? That’s another good idea—hardly a surprising position for a Mexican president:
The migratory policy, the commitment to regularize the situation of the migrants, is very important to us … to regularize the situation of our fellow Mexicans who have lived and worked in the U.S. for some time.
As for ending Remain in Mexico, AMLO likes that too. “We have in Mexico around 6,000 migrants waiting for their cases to be resolved. Yes, it would be convenient … that they wait in U.S. territory,” he said.
AMLO counseled caution on the part of Latin Americans who might think they will enter the United States immediately because “it’s going to take time to apply the new migratory policy.”
Indeed, just the day before, AMLO said Biden himself delivered that message:
It’s thought that the gates are now open, and that the Biden government is going to immediately regularize all the migrants. But I have the obligation to tell them that … they have very good intentions, and I celebrate it, but President Biden himself has informed me that it’s going to take some time to define his migratory policy. … Therefore, everybody can’t just go right now to the United States and be regularized. … You can’t … modify the migratory policy overnight.
[Versión estenográfica. Conferencia de prensa del presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador del 11 de febrero de 2021 (“Stenographic Version, Press Conference of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of February 11, 2021”) Gob.mx, Feb. 11, 2021]
That message is likely to fall on deaf ears. The “migrants” are ready for free stuff now!
In February 12 press conference, AMLO also mentioned two issues that according to him need to be resolved:
AMLO, of course, thinks that requires U.S. taxpayer subsidies to Central America, which he has long supported.
In other words, like the U.S. Cheap Labor lobby, AMLO thinks that we need migrants to do the “jobs Americans won’t do,” and that we must issue legal work visas for them.
Bottom line: when Trump applied pressure, AMLO responded. Biden is not applying pressure, so AMLO is regressing.
But Mexico Still Detaining Illegals
Despite AMLO’s seeming enthusiasm for Biden’s Open Borders policy, Mexico is still detaining illegal aliens. Milenio recently reported that the National Guard stopped a tractor trailer in Nuevo Leon state in northern Mexico with more than 100 Central Americans crowded inside. Mexican immigration authorities will provide “assisted return,” which is code for “deportation” [Auxilia Guardia Nacional a 108 migrantes centroamericanos en Nuevo León (“National Guard Helps 108 Central American Migrants in Nuevo Leon”), by Veronica Diaz, February 13, 2021].
More good news surfaced in a recent report from Reuters:
Biden has been gradually unraveling many Trump-era immigration policies. Yet the new administration has encouraged Mexico and Guatemala to keep up border enforcement in their countries to stem northward migration, according to two Mexican officials and a U.S official, all speaking on condition of anonymity. …
The Mexican government has informed the new U.S. administration that it intends to keep current immigration enforcement measures in place because it is in Mexico’s sovereign interest to secure its own borders, one senior Mexican official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
[Insight: U.S. continues plan to keep Central American migrants at bay, by Laura Gottesdiener, Frank Jack Daniel, Ted Hesson, February 13, 2021. Emphases added].
Every illegal stopped by Mexico and sent home is one who hasn’t entered the United States. And it’s particularly good news that Mexico thinks this is in its own interest.
And Guatemala Worried About Honduran Caravans
In Guatemala itself, personnel from the immigration department, the national civil police, and the defense, intelligence and health departments recently met to discuss plans to handle the next illegal-alien caravan from Honduras. The Honduran caravans, of course, must pass through Guatemala to reach Mexico and the U.S. border.
But here’s the problem for the caravan, the EFE news service reported:
[A]ccording to the regional accord CA-4, passage to Guatemala is permitted to Salvadorans, Nicaraguans and Hondurans with an identity document or current passport, but besides all travelers must present a negative proof of COVID-19.
[Prevén nueva caravana de migrantes hondureños y autoridades se preparan para contenerla (“New caravan of Honduran migrants predicted, authorities prepare to contain it”), Prensa Libre of Guatemala, Feb. 12, 2021]
In the waning days of the Trump administration, a caravan from Honduras entered Guatemala, but Guatemalan security forces broke it up. What about the next one?
Well, in that meeting, the government leaders said they will not permit unqualified “migrants” to cross the border.
Let’s hope they stick with that.
Don’t Forget Those Mexican Consulates
You may have read of the recent truck tanker truck in Texas crammed with illegal aliens.
The Mexican foreign ministry offered this:
The vast Mexican consular network in Texas is prepared to offer all assistance and consular protection necessary in case it is required.
[Caso de migrantes desaparecidos en Texas (“Case of Disappeared Migrants in Texas”), Communicado no. 072, Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, February 12, 2021]
This is a reminder of the vast Mexican consular network in Texas (11 consulates) and the U.S. in general (50), which is the biggest consular network in the world.
The 11 consulates in Texas are located in Austin, Brownsville, Del Rio, El Paso, Eagle Pass, Dallas, Houston, McAllen, Presidio, Laredo and San Antonio. And 7 of the 11 are located in border towns!
These consulates can do a lot of meddling if they want to.
American citizen Allan Wall (email him) moved back to the U.S.A. in 2008 after many years residing in Mexico. Allan's wife is Mexican, and their two sons are bilingual. In 2005, Allan served a tour of duty in Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM articles are archived here; his Mexidata.info articles are archived here; his News With Views columns are archived here; and his website is here.
