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U.S. President Joe Biden met his Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico City Monday for talks expected to focus on migration, drug trafficking, environmental issues and trade.
Biden and López Obrador held the first of a series of meetings that will continue on Tuesday and will also include Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, part of a regional summit between the three leaders.
The U.S. president and his wife, Jill Biden, were greeted Monday by López Obrador and his wife, Beatriz Gutierrez, for a welcome ceremony at the National Palace.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that with his visit, the first to Mexico since becoming president, Biden expects to "promote a common vision for North America."
Jean-Pierre said Biden would be making announcements about expanding cooperation to combat trafficking of arms, drugs and humans, as well as addressing environmental challenges and steps to "jointly address irregular migration in the region."
On Monday evening, Biden, Trudeau and López Obrador are participating in a dinner along with their spouses.
Biden arrived late Sunday in Mexico after visiting the Texas city of El Paso for a firsthand look at the influx of thousands of undocumented migrants crossing the border with Mexico.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, speaking to reporters Monday, said Mexico and the U.S. government will continue close coordination on migration issues, adding that the meeting will include "a lot of other issues."
"Yesterday, [President Biden] had the opportunity to ride with President López Obrador from the airport back into town, which gave them the chance to just have a one-on-one chat of how they're seeing the world right now, what's on their minds. I think they both got a lot out of it," Sullivan said.
Earlier, during the president's roughly four-hour visit to the border city, Biden stopped at the Bridge of the Americas port of entry, where he met with Customs and Border Protection officers and watched as they demonstrated how they search vehicles at the border for drugs, money and other contraband.
Biden also walked a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border wall that separates the Texas city from Ciudad Juarez. Two Customs and Border Protection agents walked with the president.
He also visited the El Paso County Migrant Support Center, where he met with local officials and community leaders.
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Upon his arrival in Texas, Biden was met by Governor Greg Abbott, who handed Biden a letter. Abbott cited "chaos" in his state, saying the situation is the result of Biden failing to enforce federal immigration laws.
Biden tweeted after his visit that it is possible to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and make the immigration process "orderly, fair, safe and humane."
"My administration is using the tools available to limit illegal migration, expand legal pathways to immigration, and increase security," Biden said in a separate tweet. "The approach we're taking is based on a model we know works. But to truly fix our broken immigration system, Congress needs to act."
Biden's visit came days after announcing that 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans would be allowed into the United States per month and allowed to work legally for up to two years if they apply from abroad, pass a background check and prove they have a financial supporter in the U.S.
When asked if the U.S. government plans to accept more than 30,000 migrants under the new program, Sullivan said the government has established numerical targets and will "see how it goes" to then make determinations.
"By the end of this summit, we are not going to have a new agreement as a deliverable here," he said. "What we need is to see how the program, announced last week, works in practice, [and] what, if any, adjustments need to be made to that program, and then we can talk about taking the next step."
Biden officials said those who fail to apply for the program and cross into the U.S. without authorization will be removed to Mexico under a pandemic-era health order that allows for quick expulsion of migrants.
The order, known as Title 42, prevents migrants from entering the U.S. at or between ports of entry in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Migrants are also subjected to deportation to their home country after going through expedited removal if they enter the U.S. without authorization.
VOA immigration reporter Aline Barros in Washington and White House correspondent Anita Powell in El Paso, Texas, and Mexico City contributed to this story. Some material for this report came from The Associated Press.