Mexico will contribute $1.5 billion USD to improve infrastructure along the U.S.-Mexico border

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On Tuesday, July 12th, Mexico agreed to contribute $1.5 billion to a joint initiative with the U.S. to improve infrastructure along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a person familiar with the commitment.

The agreement came on the same day President Joe Biden hosted his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, for a meeting in the Oval Office.

Part of their discussions was expected to include a commitment from the two countries to carry out “a multi-year, joint, U.S.-Mexico border infrastructure modernization effort for projects along the 2,000-mile border,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters on Monday ahead of the meeting.

The infrastructure project is intended to improve processing and security along the border, the person familiar with the agreement said.

PHOTO: Pedestrians, coming from Mexico, exit the San Ysidro Port of Entry along the U.S./Mexico border in San Ysidro, Calif., Dec. 29, 2019. (Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)
PHOTO: Pedestrians, coming from Mexico, exit the San Ysidro Port of Entry along the U.S./Mexico border in San Ysidro, Calif., Dec. 29, 2019. (Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)

Biden alluded to Mexico’s investment in remarks alongside López Obrador before their meeting, saying, “We’re also making historic investments in infrastructure modernization across our 2,000-mile border with Mexico.”

He noted the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law he championed last year was “delivering $3.4 billion to major construction projects at the ports of entry between our two countries to make our border safer and more efficient for people, trade and commerce.”

PHOTO: Hundreds of people watch from the border fence in Playas de Tijuana, Mexico, as U.S. Independence Day fireworks were launched several miles away in San Diego Bay, Calif., July 4, 2022. (by Omar Martinez/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
PHOTO: Hundreds of people watch from the border fence in Playas de Tijuana, Mexico, as U.S. Independence Day fireworks were launched several miles away in San Diego Bay, Calif., July 4, 2022. (by Omar Martinez/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)

“And the American people should know, Mr. President,” Biden told López Obrador, “that you’re also making a significant investment on your side of the border to improve infrastructure to meet the needs of our times and the future.”

The collaboration signifies something of a reset between Mexico and the U.S., as Biden tries to distance himself from the Trump administration’s contentious relationship with Mexico.

PHOTO: Surveillance cameras stand above the U.S./Mexican border fence at Playas de Tijuana, Mexico, Jan. 27. 2017. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, FILE)
PHOTO: Surveillance cameras stand above the U.S./Mexican border fence at Playas de Tijuana, Mexico, Jan. 27. 2017. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, FILE)

In 2019, then-President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican imports “until Mexico substantially stops the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory.”

When Trump launched his presidential campaign in 2015, he promised: “I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall.”

It was a promise he repeated time and time again throughout his run and his presidency, ultimately building more than 450 miles of new wall with money that had originally been allocated to the Pentagon. But the project ended when Trump was voted out of office; Mexico never paid for any of it.

Source: El Economista

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