Mexico's demand for $20 billion from Biden to help fix the border mess

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has laid out a series of demands from the US, ranging from visas to a billion-dollar infusion of funds – even as the Biden administration tries to pressure Mexico to do more to tackle the migrant crisis. He wants the US to deploy a $20 billion plan to help Mexico and Central American countries tackle the root causes of migration – while also calling for widespread changes in US-Cuba policy.

“We are going to help, as we always do,” López Obrador said in a speech on Friday. “Mexico is helping to reach agreements with other countries, in this case Venezuela,” he said, before turning to his wish list. “We also want something to be done about the (US) differences with Cuba,” López Obrador said. “We have already proposed to President Biden to open a bilateral dialogue between the US and Cuba,” he said at a press conference on Friday.

Lopez Obrador also said he wants the US to issue visas to at least 10 million Spanish-speaking migrants who have lived in the US for 10 years or more. His long list of demands comes as the Biden administration is asking Mexico to do more as a wave of migrants continues to flow across the border. It also comes at a time when the Biden administration needs to show progress on this issue while being hammered by Republican rivals and even some prominent Democratic mayors about the costs and social impacts of the surge.

Border encounters reached another stunning milestone in December with 300,000 apprehensions. The US is leaning on Mexico to do more to reduce these numbers. Late last month, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to Mexico to meet with López Obrador.

One sign that Mexico has the ability to make an impact is that the number of apprehensions at its southern border fell to about 2,500 on Monday, according to the Associated Press, down from 10,000 during a peak in December. Mexican immigration officials have resumed removing potential border crossers from trains, flying and transporting them to southern Mexico while flying some Venezuelan nationals back to their home country.

The White House has indicated in negotiations with Republicans in Congress that it is willing to spend more money on tackling border issues – which threaten to become an election problem for Biden and the Democrats in 2024. Changing U.S. policy toward Cuba and Venezuela could be a bigger task. .

But Lopez Obrador is embracing some of the administration's own rhetoric, including Vice President Kamala Harris' attempt to address the “root causes” of immigration. “We have always talked about tackling the causes,” López Obrador said. 'The ideal thing is to help poor countries.'

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