US to negotiate with Mexico and Guatemala to ease immigration pressure at the border

The United States is seeking to contain the migratory pressure on the U.S.-Mexico border at all costs. U.S. President Joe Biden plans to travel on Thursday to Brownsville, Texas, the same day that Donald Trump, his likely rival in the November presidential election, will visit another point on the border, Eagle Pass, which is also in Texas. On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will host a trilateral ministerial meeting on migration with Guatemala and Mexico.

“Secretary Blinken will lead a discussion focused on actions to strengthen humane migration management, joint collaboration to address the root causes of irregular migration and displacement, and ways to expand lawful pathways in the Western Hemisphere,” the Department of State said in a statement on Tuesday.

Blinken — who will be joined by the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, and other U.S. officials from different departments — will meet in Washington with Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena and the Foreign Minister of Guatemala, Carlos Martínez.

The United States and Mexico have already met this year. At that meeting, the two delegations established goals such as standardizing migration figures, combating human smuggling networks and designing a plan to address the arrival of immigrants through the dangerous Darién Gap in Panama.

The U.S. immigration policy of the Joe Biden administration has tried to address the root causes of migration, create legal routes for migrants to the United States, and toughen the law for those who break the rules. But that mix has not worked, and the U.S. has seen a record-breaking number of irregular crossings into the country.

Biden has tried to ease the pressure on the border by authorizing permits for migrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba. The U.S. government has also set up offices in Colombia, Guatemala and Costa Rica, where those interested in immigrating to the United States can process their applications.

Arrests for illegal crossings fell by half in January, following record highs in December. In January, in his last meeting with Bárcena, Blinken said that “great progress” was being made and that the swearing in of Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo marked a milestone for immigration collaboration. According to Blinken, Arévalo’s election opened up “an important new area for cooperation on migration” between the three countries. “We will continue to work together more broadly to develop regional solutions to the historic challenge that we face,” he said in January.

Biden himself called Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador earlier this month to talk about the border. The U.S. president expressed his gratitude for Mexico’s operational support and for taking concrete steps to deter irregular migration. Both reiterated their shared commitment to strengthening joint efforts to counter transnational criminal organizations involved in the illicit trafficking of drugs, guns, and people, according to the readout of the call released by the White House.

Immigration has displaced the economy as the main issue of the political battle between Republicans and Democrats. On Thursday, Biden is making his second visit to the border as president, after last year’s trip to El Paso in January. The White House announced the trip on Monday, after Trump had announced he was visiting Eagle Pass on Thursday.

Under pressure from Trump, Republican lawmakers derailed Biden’s border security deal, which included aid to Ukraine and Israel, as well as reforms to curb illegal immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border. Republicans demanded the border measures in exchange for approving aid to Ukraine and Israel, but in the end, the party opted to reject the compromise and use the situation at the border as a weapon to sway voters.

Biden is considering an executive order that would facilitate deportations and make it more difficult for migrants to cross into the United States. One of the measures being considered by Biden’s team is to invoke powers under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Law, which gives the president broad leeway to block certain immigrants if their entry is considered “detrimental” to national interest.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition