(Daily360.com) – Two of Joe Biden’s top lieutenants went down to Mexico to meet with its president and discuss the border crisis and it did not go particularly well. Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State and Alejandro Mayorkas, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, met with Mexican officials including President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) on Wednesday December, 27th.
Blinken said they had good conversations but in the end there will be no changes coming any time soon. Critics say this meeting was nothing more than a political maneuver and a photo-op for the Biden administration that is losing support among voters. The issue of illegal immigration has moved near the top of concerns for voters heading into the 2024 election cycle.
Alicia Barcena, Mexico’s Foreign Minister, said her country’s top priority is border crossings being open. The Biden team hoped to work with AMLO on tamping down some of the record-setting numbers of illegal aliens crossing the southern U.S. border. AMLO responded by making no promises or assurances but did indicate they would need more money from the U.S. government in order to consider any potential options.
Mexico is doing little about their own southern border which feeds the Darien gap jungle crossing located in Central America’s Panama. This region continues to be a major artery that illegal aliens are travelling through. The numbers that have crossed this year have already more than doubled last’s years record amount.
AMLO took the opportunity to lecture Blinken and Mayorkas about the temporary closure of the border by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) earlier in the month and its negative effect on Mexican trade and business. AMLO has so far only acknowledged the migrant issue as a means to demand more aid for foreign nations from the United States. He said the U.S. should be helping nations develop so that their people don’t want to flee. The more than 15,000-person illegal alien caravan heading toward the U.S. border right now may not have even been discussed by the officials.
Joe Biden as well as Vice President and ‘border czar’ Kamala Harris are vacationing and were not present at the meeting and no announcement has been made that either would attend any future meetings.
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