After two years as President of the United States, Joe Biden made his first visit to the southern border of the UnitedStates with Mexico on January 8, in the midst of a series of controversies over migration issues and drug trafficking in the country.

During his visit, the president inspected an access point in the Texas city of El Paso, which at the end of last year declared a state of emergency due to the large number of immigrants who, according to the city's mayor, were living in unsafe conditions.

Customs and immigration officials met with the US president during his visit across the Bridge of the Americas in a complex of buildings on the US-Mexico border. Later, alongside the Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden attended a series of demonstrations of border security inspections, including experts with sniffer dogs.

The president's visit is considered late by immigrant rights activists. It tries to demonstrate his administration's concern with the country's immigration issue, one of the main points of friction with the Republican opposition, but which has also generated controversy and impasses within the Democratic Party itself. By approaching border security forces, Joe Biden seeks to soften criticism about leniency with illegal immigration, especially in states like Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. The visit is still seen as a means to improve his image for re-election in 2024.

There is, however, the recent election of Kevin McCarthy that took place the day before the president's visit to the border. After long rounds of voting, the Republican leader got enough votes to reach the position of president of the Chamber of Deputies. This will probably be an adverse factor for the future policies of the Joe Biden government, especially those related to the immigration issue, particularly with the tough resistance of the Republicans against immigration. It is worth remembering that one of the first measures of the new composition of the House of Representatives is to ask for the impeachment of secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

After the end of the visit, the US president continued on Mexico City, where he met with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the 10th Summit of North American Leaders.

The North America Summit

On Tuesday, January 10th, the three leaders of North America met in Mexico City. The meeting mainly discussed trade competitiveness between countries, issues of sustainable development and climate change, migratory patterns and the issue of drug trafficking.

As for the environmental agenda, the three countries agreed to reduce methane emissions by 2025 and food waste, make transportation more sustainable, using electric buses, for example, and increase ocean and land protection areas by 30%, dialoguing with indigenous leaders to assist in this proposal. They also discussed issues related to racial justice, gender equity and protection of the LGBTQIA+ community, promoting actions to combat violence and discrimination.

Another point that drew attention was the question of commercial competitiveness and the US and Canadian attempt not to lose space in the Mexican market. The bloc's trade strength is so great that it reached US$3 million per minute in trade exchanges between January and October 2022. Thus, the summit takes place at a tense moment in relation to the trade competitiveness of the three countries.

One of the central issues regarding competitiveness is Mexico's energy policy. This policy, adopted by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, aims to limit foreign action in the country's energy sector so that national companies prevail, particularly PEMEX, the state oil company. US and Canadian leaders consider this a violation of the free trade agreement between the three countries, the T-MEC (or USCAM, in its acronym in English) that was signed in 2020, replacing the former NAFTA. As for the matter, the Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said that it will not be a relevant issue during the summit as it is on its way to being resolved by the three authorities.

Thus, given the impossibility of reaching a consensus, the most thorny debates at the summit focused on the issues of immigration and drug trafficking, which have generated serious problems for the Americans and have become controversial in the country, causing many politicians to have seen Joe Biden as the target and a barrier to solving these societal needs.

The migratory issue

The immigration issue has become a sensitive topic of President Joe Biden's government, and could hinder his image for re-election. In recent months, the president has been trying to come up with proposals and solutions to lessen the crisis. The visit to the United States-Mexico border was an attempt to show that he was concerned and active with the migration issue.

A few days before visiting Mexico, Bidenannounced the restriction of illegal immigrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti entering the United States through the border with Mexico. The country will only accept 30,000 immigrants per month from the four countries for two years, offering regular employment opportunities as long as they enter legally. A measure similar to the one applied in relation to Venezuela.

Despite Joe Biden's attempt to show concern about the issue of immigration, there are a number of flaws in the implementation of his policy. In his visit to the southern border of the United States, no immigrants participated in the security demonstrations and the reporters who were on the spot also did not see any immigrants at the rest center he visited. Thus, it is evident that his brief visit to the border was only intended to improve his image, not really caring about the humanitarian problem.

During discussions at the Summit of North American Leaders, the United States, Canada and Mexico unveiled a series of measures to combat illegal immigration. Among them, they implemented the Action Plan for Extension and Development of Partnerships, which was finalized during the summit, and are “practical measures aimed at promoting coordination and addressing the fundamental causes of irregular migration”. Also during the summit, the countries disclosed platforms and support centers for immigrants.

The issue of drug trafficking

Another hot topic at the Summit was the issue of drug trafficking. Still in 2022, the United States had an increase in thenumber of deaths by overdose, a problem that has been repeating itself for years. The number reached 100,000 people and two-thirds of that number was caused by a drug from the opioid class, fentanyl. This drug is produced with material allegedly coming from China and enters the United States by drug cartels from Mexico.

In order to combat the production and trafficking of this drug, the three governments agreed, in a trilateral manner during the Summit, to collaborate on the North American Dialogue on Drug Policy (NADD). This agreement seeks to develop a strategic model to combat the threats of illicit drugs and proposals for improving the health system in relation to drug consumption. The dialogue also includes the exchange of information on the production and trafficking of narcotics.

Other discussions on security also marked the summit, mainly with regard to trafficking in people and weapons between the three countries. To combat these issues that create insecurity, leaders released an agreement to collect and exchange information collected by Passenger Name Records (RNP) in North America.

Conclusion

Joe Biden's visit to the United States border with Mexico and his subsequent visit to the country's capital, together with the Canadian Prime Minister, had as its main focus the current problems of his management and the country he presides over. However, to relieve the pressure he has been suffering internally, the president still has a long way to go, having to deal with several issues, mainly that of the US legislative power.

Furthermore, it is possible to note how late the president's visit to Mexico was, in an obvious attempt to soften the criticism leveled at his administration, especially in relation to cases of illegal immigration. The Summit between the three leaders reinforced old promises that await a positive outcome. Meanwhile, problems within the US bloc remain unresolved in sight. During 2021 and 2022, Democrats had a majority in Congress and failed to advance on important issues, such as immigration, the green economy and the opioid pandemic. Now, when the Republicans have won control of the House of Representatives, the most that can be expected is paralysis in the country, since the situation and the opposition do not have the strength to effectively deal with the challenges faced by the American people.