Biden spends an hour in The Beast with López Obrador amid signal 30k migrant number could go up
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The president of Mexico points out that his country could receive MORE than 30,000 migrants each month from the US, and the White House says that its own offer is not ‘fixed’: Biden spends an hour in La Bestia with López Obrador after announcing a policy to send border crossers south
- Biden and López Obrador rode together after Biden landed on Sunday
- “The numbers can be increased,” said López Obrador
- The White House announced a plan for immigrants from Venezuela and others to apply
- The figure of 30,000 per month could also be increased
The White House said Monday that a plan to take in an additional 30,000 legal immigrants each month was not a “fixed number,” after Mexico’s president said his country might be willing to take in more border crossers from previously announced that the US plans to send back
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke to reporters Monday after the Biden Administration announced a plan to accept 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti who apply online for asylum.
‘We’re in the early days of implementing that, and we’ll see how it goes and then make decisions about where to take the next step. So I don’t think we have a fixed number in mind,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters from the president’s luxury hotel in Mexico City hours after Biden landed here.
He was asked about Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s own statement that Mexico could receive more than 30,000 migrants from the US than previously indicated.
President Joe Biden met with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Monday night. The two men shared an hour’s ride to the city.
“We don’t want to anticipate things, but this is part of what we are going to talk about at the summit,” López Obrador said. “We support these types of measures, to give people options, alternatives,” he continued, adding that “the numbers may increase.”
For his part, Sullivan said the numbers, announced by the White House last week, had been an “iterative process.”
The concept is for the US to encourage people from the countries to apply for asylum online, while those who show up at the southern border will be sent back.
López Obrador indicated openness to accept more than 30,000 migrants per month to be sent back from north of the border.
Migrants stand behind barbed wire to prevent them from crossing into El Paso, Texas, as seen from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Tuesday. The White House wants people to apply for asylum online
The US plans to send about 30,000 migrants a month back to Mexico, according to a plan announced before Biden’s trip
Long road: Biden and the Mexican president rode together for an hour in ‘the Beast’
He talked about how the administration started the program for those fleeing oppression in Venezuela, then extended it to Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians.
Biden landed Sunday at the new Felipe Ángeles International Airport, a pet project of the president, though it has few flights and problems with running water.
That subjected Biden, who is used to touring downtown, on a nearly hour-long drive to his hotel. But he was accompanied by the president during the hour-long ride in “the Beast,” Biden’s presidential limousine.
That made up the bulk of Biden’s diplomacy thus far. He doesn’t have any public events until after 4 pm local time, although he was to receive the President’s Daily Briefing from him.
Sullivan indicated that the limo ride was helpful, but would not disclose details.
“Yesterday, he had the opportunity to travel with President López Obrador from the airport back to the city, which gave them the opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation. More or less how they see the world right now, what’s on their mind. I think they both got a lot out of it,’ she said.