Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/12/biden-to-broaden-us-mexico-relations-keep-immigration-at-top
Analysis: US foreign relations with Mexico were much simpler under former President Donald Trump: Mexico stopped the flow of Central American migrants from reaching the US Mexico border and the two nations largely overlooked just about every other aspect of their bilateral relationship.
Now President Joe Biden, who recently took office two months ago, plans on changing this dynamic by reinstating a broader agenda with Mexico to include more engagement on climate change and security. Furthermore, he promised to overturn the antagonistic legacy of his predecessor.
Biden’s approach to US Mexico relations may come into conflict with the interests of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the left wing Mexican president known by his initials AMLO. “The Biden administration implies a very different environment for AMLO” said Carlos Elizondo Mayer-Serra, author of the book, Y mi palabra es ley: AMLO en Palacio Nacional.
“First, because there are deep differences in term of what to do on climate change, and second because the relationship is going to be much more bureaucratically managed,” Elizondo tells Al Jazeera.
With career politician Biden in office, he said, diplomacy will be conducted through official channels, rather than by phone or Twitter- as was the case with Trump.
Biden’s very different approach to US Mexico relations may come into conflict with AMLO, who was able to forge an unlikely working relationship with Trump. Despite being on opposite ends of the political spectrum, Trump and AMLO were both populist leaders with a similar leadership style and visions about their respective countries. Aside from renegotiating the terms of the USMCA, the trilateral trade deal with Canada, neither saw strategic potential in partnership. Trump’s core aim was to reduce immigration, and amid a surge in Central American migrants arriving in caravans through the US Mexico border, he threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico if they didn’t stop them. AMLO switched from providing transport, shelter, and transit to blocking access with military force, and by doing this AMLO gained favor with Trump. With the loss of this relationship, Biden faces some serious challenges, especially considering that AMLO holds a strategic key. Even with Biden’s push for a more diverse agenda with Mexico, cooperation on immigration is still a top priority for the US. Furthermore, despite Biden’s pledge to loosen Trump’s restrictive border policies, he still needs Mexico to regulate the growing number of Central American migrants.
Recently one of the most important and discussed geopolitical features in the Americas is the boundary/borderland between the US and Mexico. Boundaries/ borderlands are artificial lines that mark political areas and are often contested due to issues of demarcation and administration. Political boundaries are rarely representative of cultural boundaries making borderlands multi-ethnic and potential zones of conflict, especially if the region has resource wealth. Borders vary in importance given the relationship between the states involved. The border between the US and Mexico is much more important to the US than it’s border with Canada due to a long history of problems concerning the US-Mexico border. But, unlike many border disputes that pertain to the demarcation of borders, the US is concerned with the passage of individuals between borders.