Mexico aims to address roots of immigration with incoming U.S. gov't

Mexico wants to address the causes of immigration with the incoming administration of U.S. president-elect Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday, reported Xinhua.

Lopez Obrador held a 20-minute telephone conversation with Biden over the weekend, in which they agreed to strengthen bilateral immigration policy.

"He knows that people leave their places of origin out of necessity, not for pleasure, so what you have to do is to get to the causes and promote the development of the south," the president said during his usual daily press conference.

At the height of the migrant caravans headed toward the U.S. border in 2019, Lopez Obrador's administration established a Comprehensive Development Plan for Central America and southern Mexico.

At the time, U.S. President Donald Trump even threatened Mexico with punitive trade tariffs if it did not curb northward migration.

According to government estimates, 38 million Mexicans live in the United States.