Mexican officials: Immigration, climate change and security on tap for Biden’s visit

By Kendal Blust
Published: Friday, January 6, 2023 - 3:37pm
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President Joe Biden will visit Mexico next week for the first time as president to attend the North American Leaders’ Summit.

Mexican leaders say they are prepared to welcome Biden to Mexico City Sunday evening ahead of the summit next week — where President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will meet with his counterparts from the United States and Canada over the course of several days.

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard says among the topics López Obrador will discuss with Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are security, immigration and regional competitiveness.

Climate change is also on the agenda. Mexico plans to tout its so-called Plan Sonora — the country’s most ambitious effort to move toward clean energy by tapping into the northern state’s solar energy potential and abundant, though largely untapped, lithium deposits. López Obrador has said the United States is going to help fund the plan.

Biden is expected to stop in El Paso on Sunday before arriving in Mexico City. It will be his first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border as president.