By Darian Douraghy – The Postmillennial
The Biden administration is beginning to depend more and more on Mexico to help stem the record-high flow of illegal immigrants entering the United States, according to a new report from NBC News. Government officials from both nations have said that Mexico also has its own list of desired actions for the United States, including for it to grant amnesty to at least 10 million Hispanic illegal immigrants.
Under the Biden administration, records for illegal crossings have been repeatedly broken since the beginning of his term. The record for the most illegal immigrant crossings seen at the southern border of all time, for instance, was set yet again just last month.
Previous attempts by the Biden administration to lessen illegal immigration have led to only temporarily decreased crossings, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Mexico last month to ask Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to provide assistance, according to NBC.
López Obrador called on Friday for the US to approve an initiative that would send $20 billion to Latin American and Caribbean countries in addition to stopping any sanctions against Venezuela, ending the US blockade of Cuba, and giving at least 10 million Hispanic illegal immigrants the ability to stay in the country and work legally.
A record-high of 300,000 illegal immigrants were processed by Customs and Border Protection in December, per NBC.
A senior Biden administration official told NBC in response to López Obrador’s requests that the Mexican president “has a very ambitious agenda. For some of these things, we would need Congress to act. We share the vision that we need to lift up the region.”
Negotiators with the US want Mexico to increase enforcement along its southern border with Guatemala, and to deport more illegal immigrants apprehended within Mexico.
Both nations are set to continue meeting in Washington late this month. Mexican and American officials alike have reportedly said that Mexico holds significant leverage in the negotiations. López Obrador’s administration also hopes that Joe Biden wins re-election in November, according to the outlet.