WASHINGTON – WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador are quickly adopting new measures to crack down on illegal migration that include stricter enforcement on railroads, buses and airports as well as increased repatriation flights to migrants from the USA. and Mexico.
The two leaders previewed the measures in a joint statement following an appeal on Sunday, which focused on their joint efforts to “effectively manage” migration and the US-Mexico border. Biden and López Obrador said they are directing their national security advisers to “immediately implement concrete measures” to reduce the number of illegal border crossings.
An administration official said the U.S. and Mexico will increase enforcement measures that would prevent the use of key modes of transportation to facilitate illegal migration to the border, as well as the number of repatriation flights that would return migrants to their countries of origin. origin. The official, who was granted anonymity to discuss details that have not been released, also said the U.S. and Mexico would “respond promptly to disruptive outbreaks.”
The new measures come as Biden continues to deliberate whether to take executive action that would further crack down on the number of migrants arriving at the U.S. southern border.
Since the collapse of border legislation in Congress earlier this year, the White House has not ruled out the possibility of Biden issuing an executive order on asylum rules to try to reduce the number of migrants at the border. Any unilateral action would likely rely on a president’s authority under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which provides broad powers to block entry of certain immigrants if their entry is considered harmful to the national interest. .
Administration officials have been mulling over various options for months, but Biden has not made any decisions about how to proceed with any executive actions. White House aides have seen little immediate urgency for the president to take any action, given that the number of illegal border crossings has declined from a record 250,000 in December as Mexican authorities have stepped up their enforcement efforts.
The call took place on Sunday at Biden’s request, López Obrador said during his daily news conference in Mexico City on Monday.
“We talk periodically,” López Obrador said. “I look for him, he looks for me, we talk.”
The Mexican leader said both countries have made progress in controlling unauthorized migration, persuading many migrants not to use illegal methods to move from one country to another. López Obrador also applauded a January ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that allowed Border Patrol agents to resume cutting barbed wire that the state of Texas had installed along the border to try to stop migration.
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Maria Verza contributed from Mexico City.
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