(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) As the nation of Mexico appeared to be gearing up Thursday for a crackdown on illegal immigration into America from its side of the border, some speculated that U.S. President Joe Biden had bribed Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to take care of his border crisis.
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin posted a video of Mexican border patrol officers being bussed to the border near Juárez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, to slow the record-pace illegal immigration into America.
Mexico is bringing legions of immigration officers into Juarez to keep migrants away from the U.S. border in El Paso.
Mexico has massively increased enforcement on their side of the border after record high numbers in December, and a meeting in MX w/ Secretary of State Blinken. https://t.co/NONQNRYpeZ
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 3, 2024
Another journalist, Center for Immigration Studies fellow Todd Bensman, recorded video evidence from south of the border that Mexico was gearing up for what appeared to be a crackdown on immigration into America, particularly targeting Texas-bound immigrants.
Bensman posted a video of official state vans headed north toward the Texas-Mexico border.
Naturally, the mounting evidence of Mexican efforts fueled speculation that United States officials may have paid a “ransom” to Mexico, for help in securing the border.
Earlier this month, Obrador demanded additional aid to the tune of $10 billion per year from the U.S. to crack down on illegal immigration through his country.
“Biden paid off Mexico?” one Twitter user asked.
Biden paid off Mexico?
— Samuel Whittemore (@SamuelWhittem14) April 3, 2024
Another wondered if Biden and his administration had capitulated to Obrador’s ransom.
“Did we pay Mexico’s ransom demand?” the user asked.
Did we pay Mexico's ransom demand?
— Moose (@MOOSE5754) April 3, 2024
Obrador’s demands went beyond mere cash payments, however.
In a 60 Minutes appearance, aside from cash, he demanded the lifting of the Cuban embargo and the legalization of millions of generally-law-abiding but illegal immigrants in the United States.
If speculation about Biden capitulating were indeed true, then the president and his party may be trying to have their cake and eat it too as the 2024 election approaches.
After having already resettled an estimated 11 million illegals via open-border policies, slowing the crisis would make it seem less acute and neutralized one of presumptive GOP candidate Donald Trump’s main talking points, as even Democrats begin to acknowledge the some of the immediate problems that mass is causing.
However, Biden’s campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez, the granddaughter of Latino labor activist Cesar Chavez, appeared to concede that the U.S. president himself had no plan to close the border.
Meanwhile, Trump—who previously used the threat of tariffs and a trade embargo to compel action from Obrador—reacted to his 60 Minutes interview by slamming Biden as weak and ineffective.
“I wouldn’t give them 10 cents,” Trump said of Mexico’s demands.
