Biden sends delegation to Mexico City for talks on fentanyl, migration

President Biden is sending a top White House official to Mexico for talks on fighting the fentanyl crisis and getting a handle on migration in the region.

Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall will lead a delegation to Mexico City for talks with Mexican and Canadian counterparts on Monday and Tuesday.

One of the main topics will be ways to combat the flow of fentanyl in North America. Mexican cartels use precursor chemicals from China to manufacture fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, in clandestine labs. They often press the drug into fake pills, resulting in overdoses by unsuspecting users in the U.S.

Fentanyl is the main driver of the overdose crisis that kills more than 100,000 Americans per year.

The U.S. is pressuring Mexico to crack down on cartels within its borders, but Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has downplayed the Mexican role in the supply chain at times. Countries have also pointed to U.S. demand as a driver of the problem.

While some Republicans press for U.S. military strikes on the cartels, Mr. Biden is trying to negotiate solutions, pointing to an April summit of the Trilateral Fentanyl Committee with Mexico and Canada and the second round of meetings this week.

According to the White House, the panel will discuss ways to dismantle and prosecute criminal drug networks while examining the flow of firearms into Mexico that fuels cartels’ violence. The countries will also discuss ways to disrupt the flow of fentanyl-creating chemicals from overseas.

The White House said officials will also talk about the steady flow of migrants across the southern border. They want to build on previous steps to crack down on human smugglers, increase legal pathways into the U.S. and “further modernize and secure” the southern border.

This week’s meetings will “will continue to sustain and strengthen the successful initiatives we have put in place to address the humanitarian situation caused by the migration flows at our shared border and in the region,” a senior White House official said.

Rich Verma, deputy secretary of state for management and resources; Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco; Kristie Canegallo, acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; and Kemp Chester, senior adviser for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, will join Ms. Sherwood-Randall in Mexico City.

“This meeting will enhance coordination on combating the synthetic drug threat, drug demand and public health, drug trafficking modes and methods, and illicit finance,” the State Department said. “Deputy Secretary Verma will also meet with Mexican government officials to discuss migration, forced displacement, and expanding access to lawful pathways.”