Migration to Dominate the Agenda in the Next Bilateral Meeting Between Biden and AMLO

Migration will be at the forefront of the upcoming bilateral meeting between U.S. and Mexico presidents, Joe Biden and Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, commonly known as AMLO.

The issue was the only one specified in the White House's press release announcing the meeting, which will take place on Friday, November 17, on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders' Week.

Both heads of State will discuss "how we can continue to work together as partners to manage migration at our shared border and mobilize a hemispheric-wide response to this challenge," reads a passage of the document.

It used general language to describe the rest of the meeting, saying that the two leaders will "discuss ongoing efforts to strengthen the U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship and address issues of shared concern."

The Biden administration is seeking to address the issue as mass migration, especially through its southern border, continues to break records.

Earlier this month, the president met with a dozen leaders from Western Hemisphere countries at the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity Leaders' Summit. In it, Biden said that the U.S. and its partners in the region were working to "manage the challenges of unprecedented migration flows" and described a three-legged approach to do so.

• "Working together to stabilize migrant populations, including making sure communities that are welcoming migrants and refugees can afford to welcome care for them."
• "The U.S., Canada and Spain are contributing to an IDB grant facility so countries that are providing migrants legal status can support the critical services necessary so they live safely and with dignity."
• "Expanding legal pathways to promote safe and orderly migration by providing worker permits that allow migrants to contribute to our economies, as well as enforcing immigration laws in a humane and effective way to deter irregular migration and disrupt traffickers."

According to Customs and Border Protection data, over 3.2 million people arrived in the United States in fiscal year 2023, including people with a legal status and those apprehended for illegally crossing the border. Most of those who were apprehended were nationals of Western Hemisphere countries.

Mexicans remained the majority, with 735,937 migrants, while Venezuelans surpassed Cubans for the first time as 334,914 were reported as coming from the South American Country and 266,071 from the Caribbean island.

However, in September of this year, some 200,000 migrants crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, which set the record for most border crossings in a month. But the figures plunged in October following the Biden administration's announcement of deportation flights to the South American country.

Concretely, authorities at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection have seen a 50 to 60 percent drop, according to figures obtained by the Washington Post.