U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. Photo: Google

By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is slated to meet with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in a virtual conference on Friday, May 7.

The main topic of conversation during that meeting will be the growing migration crisis, which has led to a flood of undocumented migrants — including many unaccompanied minors — crossing into the United States from Mexico.

Since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January, the number of unaccompanied children taken into custody has doubled, and March witnessed the largest number of Border Patrol apprehensions in a single month since the early 2000s.

“This meeting will deepen the partnership between our countries to achieve the common goals of prosperity, good governance and addressing the root causes of migration,” Harris’s chief spokesperson Symone Sanders said in a statement regarding the upcoming meeting with AMLO.

Neither Harris nor Biden have traveled to the U.S. southern border to view the crisis firsthand, but the Biden administration has sent delegates to review the situation.

Notwithstanding, Harris is due to travel to Central America in June, marking her first trip to the region since Biden tasked her with the role of immigration czar.

Harris will also discuss with López Obrador his controversial proposal to have the United States sponsor undocumented Central American migrants plant trees in Mexico and then be extended U.S. visas and a pathway to U.S. citizens.

AMLO formally presented his proposal during last week’s virtual environmental summit, hosted by Biden, although López Obrador famously did not bother to attend the rest of the summit.

During his brief intervention at the summit, AMLO also hailed the values of prioritizing hydrocarbon fuels, while most of the rest of the participating 40 heads of states focused on the need to replace carbon-based energy with clean alternatives.

…April 26, 2021