President Biden speaks to Mexican President about reversing Trump's 'draconian immigration policies' as the two leaders also work to promote development in Central America
- Biden used the call with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to 'review bilateral cooperation on a range of bilateral and regional issues'
- The two leaders agreed to work closely together to 'stem the flow of irregular migration to Mexico and the United States'
- President Joe Biden spoke with Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau Friday
- Conversation lasted about 30 minutes and plans were made to talk next month
- They covered everything from the pandemic to environmental protections
- Biden also spoke with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Friday
President Joe Biden asserted in a phone call with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador Friday that he would be reversing the Trump administration's 'draconian immigration policies.'
Adding to the growing list of policies rejected by his administration, Biden used the call as a opportunity to 'review bilateral cooperation on a range of bilateral and regional issues,' according to a readout of the call shared by the White House.
'The President outlined his plan to reduce migration by addressing its root causes, increasing resettlement capacity and lawful alternative immigration pathways, improving processing at the border to adjudicate requests for asylum, and reversing the previous administration's draconian immigration policies,' the readout states, not mentioning Trump by name.
President Biden used the call with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to 'review bilateral cooperation on a range of bilateral and regional issues'
The two leaders agreed to work closely together to 'stem the flow of irregular migration to Mexico and the United States,' as well as work to help promote development in the Northern Triangle of Central America
The readout added that the two leaders agreed to work closely together to 'stem the flow of irregular migration to Mexico and the United States,' as well as work to help promote development in the Northern Triangle of Central America.
Mexico's Lopez Obrador wrote on Twitter that his discussion with Biden had been 'friendly and respectful.'
'We talked on issues related to migration, #COVID19 and cooperation on development and well-being. Everything indicates that relations will be good for the well-being of our peoples and nations,' Lopez Obrador said.
In his first call to a foreign leader as US President, Joe Biden spoke with Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau Friday on a number of topics and made plans to continue the conversation next month, Ottawa and Washington said in separate statements.
During the conversation, which Canada said lasted approximately 30 minutes, the two leaders covered everything from the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to the closure of the US-Canada border since March, to environmental protections.
Trudeau and Biden made plans to talk again soon, with Canada leaving open the possibility of a virtual or even in-person discussion, while the White House said only that 'the two leaders agreed to speak again in a month.'
The discussions, the Canadian statement said, would 'advance the important work of renewing the deep and enduring friendship between Canada and the United States.'
US President Joe Biden spoke with Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau and covered everything from the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to the closure of the US-Canada border since March, to environmental protections
Neither Washington nor Ottawa confirmed an exact date.
According to both countries, the leaders discussed Biden's decision to cancel the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, a project fiercely opposed by environmentalists but backed by Ottawa.
Upon taking office on Wednesday, Biden rescinded a permit for the pipeline via executive order, blocking completion of the project started almost a decade ago.
Trudeau had previously said it was 'an important project for us,' citing continental energy security and jobs, and reacted with disappointment Friday over its cancellation.
'The prime minister raised Canada's disappointment with the United States' decision on the Keystone XL pipeline,' Trudeau's office said in its statement, but added that the prime minister emphasized the 'important economic and energy security benefits of our bilateral energy relationship.'
The 1,210-mile pipeline, starting in 2023, was to transport up to 830,000 barrels of oil a day from the Alberta oil sands to Nebraska and then through an existing system to refineries in coastal Texas.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, pictured in December 2020, confirmed on Twitter that he spoke with new US President Joe Biden on Friday
The three countries form the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and binds nearly half a billion consumers in a single market that comprises about 27 percent of global GDP, in a region where trade hit $1.2 trillion in 2019 - though that was before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
Trudeau said prior to the call that the new administration represents an opportunity to turn the page on a challenging relationship with the US under Trump, who once labelled Trudeau as 'dishonest' and 'meek.'
'We are truly beginning a new era of friendship,' he said.
The White House said the pair's Friday phone call highlighted 'the strategic importance of the US-Canada relationship' while 'reinvigorating our bilateral cooperation on an ambitious and wide-ranging agenda.'
ICE Agents Ordered to Free All Illegal Aliens in Custody: ‘Release Them All’
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, tasked with enforcing federal immigration law, are being instructed to free all detainees in their custody, as President Joe Biden’s administration halts deportations.
An internal January 21 ICE memo, independently reviewed by Breitbart News and first reported by Fox News’s Tucker Carlson, orders agents to “stop all removals,” including land and air deportations.
In addition, the memo tells agents that “all cases” of detainees in ICE custody are now to be considered “no significant likelihood of removal in foreseeable future” — suggesting all detainees will need to be released.
“Release them all, immediately,” the ICE official wrote to staff in the memo. Typically, if detainees do not have sponsors in the United States, agents can hold an individual in their custody. The memo, though, states that is no longer the case and that even detainees without sponsors must be released.
It is unclear if ICE is currently carrying out the mass release of all 14,195 detainees in its custody, 71.45 percent of whom are convicted criminals or have pending criminal charges. These detainees are currently held in approximately 138 facilities across the United States.
ICE has halted all deportations, regardless of the criminal convictions of an illegal alien, as a result of Biden’s executive order stopping removals for at least 100 days. The initiative is a long-term goal of the open borders lobby, which has sought a permanent end to deportations.
ICE officials have not responded to a request for comment in time for this publication.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
Trump’s Former DHS Secretary Lobbies Senate to Approve Biden’s DHS Pick
Kevin McAleenan, former acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the Trump administration, is lobbying senators to approve President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the agency, Alejandro Mayorkas.
In a letter leaked to CNN’s Jake Tapper, McAleenan writes to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee asking members to quickly approve Mayorkas’s nomination.
“Ali Mayorkas is … committed to the success of the Department, the people who serve in it, and he understands the essential role it maintains in protecting our homeland and our values. … I urge the Committee to complete its work and the Senate to confirm Alejandro Mayorkas as the next Secretary of Homeland Security,” McAleenan wrote.
The letter comes despite Mayorkas’s scandal-plagued background in the Obama administration where he was accused by the DHS inspector general of acting “improperly” for securing EB-5 visas for wealthy foreign investors.
During a hearing, Mayorkas defended his actions, saying he “fixed problems,” and promised to help Congress pass an amnesty for 11 to 22 million illegal aliens despite its potential to drive an uncontrollable mass migration to the United States-Mexico border.
McAleenan was one of a handful of Washington, DC, insiders from the national security establishment who was promoted to the top job at DHS while Donald Trump was president. Others included Gen. John Kelly, Kirstjen Nielsen, Elaine Duke, and Chad Wolf.
Days before resigning, McAleenan gave an interview where he attacked Trump’s policy at the U.S.-Mexico border. McAleenan claimed the Zero Tolerance policy “went too far” and repudiated the term “illegal alien.”
McAleenan had also been accused of leaking the details of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids to the establishment media in order to stop the operation. About a month after his announced resignation, a report alleged that McAleenan had led a quiet front inside DHS to stoke opposition to Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who sits on the committee, has said he will oppose Mayorkas’s nomination.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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