Mexican President Offers His Solution to U.S. Immigration Crisis

Outgoing Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has criticised former president Donald Trump’s flagship border wall policy and said employment is the key to addressing the migrant crisis.
In his final State of the Nation address, López Obrador emphasized the importance of supporting poor communities as a route to addressing the root causes of mass migration.
In an apparent swipe at Trump, Lopez Obrador said that problems could not be solved with “walls or militarizing borders”.
It comes after Mexico paused diplomatic relations with the US after its ambassador criticized López Obrador’s proposal to elect judges through popular vote.
The Biden-Harris administration resumed building Trump’s border wall after President Joe Biden described it as a “waste of money.”
Immigration is playing a central role as campaigning intensifies for the United States election in November, with Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris offering policy proposals designed to satisfy a bipartisan appetite for immigration curbs.
Harris has pledged to revive the bipartisan border security bill, while Trump has promised mass deportations of migrants.
However, in an address to to thousands of citizens gathered in Mexico City’s central square Sunday, Lopez Obrador said the best way to address mass immigration was “supporting the countries of Central America and the Caribbean with poor communities.
“Those who abandon their family, their community, do not do it out of pleasure, they do it out of necessity,” he said.
Creating jobs in underdeveloped regions would help to slow immigration to wealthier nations, he added.
Lopez Obrador said Mexico would continue to promote welfare and development programs in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia, Belize, and Cuba in its efforts to improve conditions for poorer communities.
He highlighted Mexico’s initiatives, such as the “Sowing Life” and “Youth Building the Future” programs, which aim to foster development in neighboring countries.
“We are helping through Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life) and Youth Building the Future programs, and other actions,” and “we will continue to do so,” he said.
Harris was tasked by Biden with addressing the “root cause” of migration to the U.S. in March of 2021.
“She’s the most qualified person to do it,” Biden said of his vice president at the time. “To lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle and the countries that help — are going to need help — in stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border.”
Biden had given Harris the task of coordinating diplomatic relationships in the hopes of improving conditions in countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras that would, in theory, encourage would-be migrants to stay put.
In the three-and-a-half years since, illegal immigration has risen and Republicans have centered campaign attack lines around border security.
In his final weeks in office, the Mexican president proposed a judicial overhaul that would change the process of appointing judges to an electoral system. However, critics warn that this could result in a judiciary populated by politically biased and inexperienced judges.
The proposal has ignited widespread protests across Mexico and raised concerns among investors and financial institutions.
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