House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday criticized Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador and his recommendations to the United States on how to deal with the border crisis.
Obrador said the U.S. will eliminate sanctions on Venezuela, end the embargo on Cuba, grant citizenship to undocumented immigrants from Mexico living in the U.S., and support struggling countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. He reiterated his proposal for $20 billion a year to be spent on the United States. .
“Handing over the security reins of the Western Hemisphere to Cuban communists and Venezuelan socialists will only further destabilize the region and increase illegal immigration,” Johnson (R-Louisiana) said in a statement. ” he said.
“Similarly, a mass amnesty would only increase the already growing and dangerous human trafficking operations of Mexican cartels.”
Obrador made the suggestion again in a wide-ranging interview with CBS.60 minutesIn the meeting, Mexican leaders criticized Prime Minister Johnson’s push to reinstate the Trump administration’s Remain in Mexico policy.
During the interview, Obrador was also shown a clip from a press conference Johnson gave earlier this year, in which the speaker detailed a conversation with President Biden about Remain in Mexico policy.
Mr. Biden told Mr. Johnson that Mexico did not want it to come back, but the chairman recalled saying Washington should force U.S. allies to cooperate.
“Mr. President, we are the United States of America. Mexico will listen to us,” Johnson recalled telling Biden at a press conference earlier this year.
“No. No, Mr. Congressman,” Obrador replied after seeing the footage. per translation. “He is disrespectful. We are an independent nation. Free sovereigns. We are not a colony. We are not a foreign protectorate.”
The Remain in Mexico policy, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, went into effect in 2019 under Mr. Obrador’s watch, leaving tens of thousands of migrants seeking asylum in the United States waiting in Mexico for court decisions.
Obrador, whose term ends in September, insisted that Mexico has a “very good relationship” with the United States, but stressed that “we are not dependent on it.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson renewed his call on Monday to force Mexico to be more cooperative in curbing border conflicts.
“The Mexican president is coddling the cartels and asking the United States to fund yet another mass migration into our country. President Biden needs to face the fact that he will use leverage, just as President Trump did.” said Johnson.
“We should use every tool available to us, including the Migrant Protection Protocols, to secure our borders and stop the flow of foreign nationals into the United States. “Everything should be done,” he added.
Mr Johnson also slammed the record of left-wing populist leaders.
“When President López Obrador considers what legacy he will leave behind, he should look no further than widespread immigration abroad,” Johnson scolded.
Obrador had previously suggested The United States poured $20 billion into supporting Latin American and Caribbean countries.
If the U.S. doesn’t follow Mr. Obrador’s proposals, “the flow of migrants will continue,” he told “60 Minutes.”
“I’m outspoken. I have to say things like they are. And I always say how I feel,” he said, adding that Mexico will continue to maintain border security even if the U.S. doesn’t meet its demands. He assured that he would support him.
During fiscal year 2023, a whopping 2.47 million encounters were recorded at the U.S.-Mexico border. According to the Border Patrol. The number of encounters so far by 2024 is 1.51 million.
Border security has emerged as a political flashpoint ahead of the November 5 presidential election.
