MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador became an unlikely ally in the migration policies of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who deployed thousands of troops across Mexico to stop applicants from asylum from Central America to the 2,000-mile border.
Now, President Biden is preparing to undo much of Trump’s immigration legacy, while facing differences with the Mexican populist over a number of other bilateral issues such as security cooperation and climate change.
Cooperation with the Mexican president, despite these differences, will be crucial in managing the issue of immigration, according to political and political analysts. Biden has promised a review of immigration to provide a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants, nearly half of Mexicans.
He also wants to end the asylum eligibility restrictions established during the years of Mr. Trump and end a program that required some 70,000 asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their U.S. procedures are resolved
The change in policy, which the administration says will lead to a more humane migration system, has a potential disadvantage: if done hastily, it could lead to an increase in migrants, which could be disastrous for politician Biden, according to analysts.