WASHINGTON, Dec 20, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – US President-elect Joe Biden told
Mexico’s president Saturday he was committed to addressing the root causes of
poor Latino migrants crossing the border into America.
Outgoing President Donald Trump made tightening the southern frontier
against what he called the free and dangerous flow of people entering the US
from Mexico and Central America a key pillar of his US-centric policy on
immigration, including his fitful plan to build a border wall.
Biden spoke Saturday with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and
emphasized “the need to reinvigorate US-Mexico cooperation to ensure safe and
orderly migration,” the Biden transition team said in a statement.
“The two leaders noted a shared desire to address the root causes of
migration in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and southern Mexico and to
build a future of greater opportunity and security for the region,” the team
said.
The border is a major crossing point for migrants fleeing poverty, drug-
related violence and other woes in Mexico and Central America.
Lopez Obrador, a leftist, had cordial relations with Trump but it was only
this week that he finally congratulated Biden on his win in the November 3 US
election.