Biden is begging for Mexico’s help with the border (and his reelection)

In the midst of one of the worst national security, immigration, and public safety crises in U.S. history, President Biden's attempts to manage the crisis at the southern border are actually making the situation worse.

At this point, he is empowering the very authoritarian regimes responsible for coordinating the flow of refugees and immigrants into the United States in the first place.

Biden continues to wield significant influence over Mexico's government. ask Mexico for help This is to address an issue that only recently came to his attention because of its negative impact on poll numbers.

Biden is in a strange position. He is currently petitioning Mexico to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States, and he continues to repeatedly sue the state of Texas in an effort to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States.

As the Biden administration continues its assault on Texas, Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador (also known as “AMLO”) knows he has the upper hand. Mexico controls the flow of migrants from Tapachula along the border with Guatemala to the northern border with the United States, and AMLO is using that as leverage to control Biden's policies. Meanwhile, Biden faces a record low approval rating of 32% for his handling of the border crisis and is desperately counting on Mexico's cooperation to avoid the potential political fallout from reckless border policies. ing.

In exchange for Mexico's promise to control its borders, called out to the United States. Approves a plan to deploy $20 billion in aid to help countries in Latin America and the Caribbean lift themselves out of poverty. So AMLO is urging Biden to siphon money from American taxpayers for countries that will inevitably use that money to feed the very corruption they are supposed to be fighting.

Mexico also called on the United States to end U.S. sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela and to grant the more than 10 million undocumented Hispanic immigrants in the United States the right to legally stay and work.

Mr. Biden may seek to grant AMLO's request while ignoring the condition that Congress approve it.

It is disconcerting to see the president of the United States begging for aid in this way from a hostile foreign power controlled by drug cartels that are exploiting open borders to make billions. do.

As president, Biden already has the power to secure the border and cut off illegal immigration. The United States does not need to rely on any other actor to do that. All we need is leadership willing to enforce the immigration laws that are already in place.

Unfortunately, Biden lacks that will. He doesn't want to risk giving the impression that he's anti-immigrant, so he's leaning on the Mexican president, who has taken a “hugs, not bullets” approach to criminal cartels, who are now profiting more than ever from illegal immigration. ing.

Melissa Ford is policy director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Secure and Sovereign Frontier Campaign, which works to keep our nation safe and free.