Biden to travel to Mexico in January for meeting with AMLO amid migrant crisis

President Joe Biden will travel to Mexico next month to meet with Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Biden will be in Mexico City on Jan. 9-10 for the North American Leaders’ Summit, National Security Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby confirmed Tuesday.

The announcement comes amid a surge in migrants that has taxed border communities. Local authorities worry the surge of migrants will increase further if the U.S. lifts the Title 42 health order that allowed the Biden administration to expedite the removal of migrants throughout the pandemic. A lower court ordered the measure to be lifted on Dec. 21, but the Supreme Court intervened on Monday, potentially delaying changes to immigration enforcement.

The White House had stressed on Monday, prior to the intervention, that even if Title 42 is lifted, the US will continue to enforce border security, yet officials declined to say whether Biden would travel to Mexico to deliver the message in person.

In a snub of Biden, López Obrador skipped a summit the U.S. hosted in Los Angeles for Latin American leaders in June after the U.S. president refused to invite leaders from non-democratic countries.