Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador blamed President Joe Biden’s immigration policies for the crisis at the southern border during a Tuesday press conference.
“Expectations were created that with the Government of President Biden there would be better treatment of migrants,” Lopez Obrador said. “And this has caused Central American migrants, and also from our country, wanting to cross the border thinking that it is easier to do so.”
AMLO: “Expectations were created that with the Government of President Biden there would be a better treatment of migrants. And this has caused Central American migrants, and also from our country, wanting to cross the border thinking that it is easier to do so” pic.twitter.com/TNrZQamuWK
— José Díaz-Briseño (@diazbriseno) March 23, 2021
“People don’t go to the United States for fun, they go out of necessity,” Lopez Obrador said, according to Reuters.
Biden sent an envoy to the region to address the surge at the border, with Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard saying there needs to be “humanitarian actions” that promote economic development to address the root causes of migration from Central America to the U.S., according to Reuters.
Biden’s administration, however, has blamed the Trump administration for the crisis at the border despite rolling back Trump-era policies meant to curb illegal immigration.
Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas blamed the Trump administration Sunday while speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, according to The Hill.
“There was a system in place in both Republican and Democratic administrations, that was torn down during the Trump administration, and that is why the challenge is more acute than it ever has been before.”
“We are rebuilding the orderly systems that the Trump administration tore down to avoid the need for these children to actually take the perilous journey,” he said. (RELATED: ‘Not Today!’: Kamala Harris Cracks Up When Asked If She Will Visit The Border)
Biden halted construction of the border wall, placed a 100-day moratorium on deportations and ended Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy.
Biden has since suggested his administration would be re-establishing the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which forces migrants seeking asylum to remain in Mexico while their asylum claims were processed.
Since Biden took office, a large influx of migrants, including unaccompanied children, have arrived at the border and overwhelmed facilities.