Mexico agrees to invest $1.5B in ‘smart’ border technology

By WILL WEISSERT and ZEKE MILLER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador has agreed during meetings with President Joe Biden to spend $1.5 billion over the next two years to improve “smart” border technology. It’s a move the White House says shows neighborly cooperation succeeding where Trump administration vows to wall off the border and have Mexico pay for it could not. A series of agreements the two countries hammered out as their leaders spoke in Washington called for several other concrete moves, including expanding the number of work visas the U.S. issues, creating a bilateral working group on labor migration pathways and worker protections and welcoming more refugees. Both also pledged to continue joint patrols for Mexico and Guatemala to hunt human smugglers along their shared border.