With President Donald Trump’s departure from office and the inauguration of President Joe Biden comes the prospect of major shifts in the relationship between the United States and Mexico. President Biden has taken immediate steps to reverse policies of the prior administration in areas that may have a substantial impact on those doing business in Mexico and along the border between the two countries. These changes come at a time when Mexico itself is in a state of flux under the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office in December 2018. How these shifts develop in the Biden Administration remains to be seen. The US-Mexico relationship is strong, but also faces new hurdles, including López Obrador’s continued populist agenda, new migration challenges, a global pandemic with profound impact in both countries and cross-border criminal justice controversies. Awareness and understanding of these shifts, and of the key players and policies at work, will be critical as businesses position themselves in the initial months of the Biden Administration. Rule of Law Presidents Trump and López Obrador shared a close personal relationship that surprised many, given Trump’s frequent negative comments about Mexico and its citizens. Their amicable relationship may have been based, in part, on their personal and political similarities. Like Trump, López Obrador offered campaign promises of radical transformation in Mexico and attacked perceived political corruption. Since taking office, López Obrador has made controversial moves to effectuate the “Fourth Transformation,” his preferred name for his administration. In October 2020, the Editorial Board of the Financial Times opined that López Obrador “is revealing himself as an authoritarian populist” through his attacks on Mexico’s independent electoral authority, targeting of journalists and winning
he supreme court’s approval of his proposed referendum on whether to allow the prosecutions of his political predecessors.1 López Obrador also initially refused to recognize President Biden’s electoral victory, delaying his acknowledgment of the president-elect until mid-December 2020.2 The Mexican president later criticized companies such as Facebook and Twitter for denying Trump a platform in the wake of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.3 López Obrador has also criticized attorneys whose practice conflicts with his administration’s goals. On October 20, 2020, the American Bar Association published an open letter to López Obrador expressing concerns about the rule of law under his administration.4 It objected to federal efforts to delegitimize attorneys practicing tax law and to discourage individuals under tax investigation from consulting attorneys, impinging upon the right to legal counsel.5 Just a few months later, on February 22, 2021, López Obrador commented that it was a “disgrace” that Mexican lawyers work for foreign companies he claimed want to take advantage of Mexico. He stated that, although these lawyers are free to practice, he hoped that they realize they are committing “treason against their nation.” Several Mexican professional lawyers’ associations expressed strong disapproval of López Obrador’s comments and defended the role of attorneys in guaranteeing access to justice.6 Immigration On January 23, 2021, Biden and López Obrador conducted their first presidential phone call, during which they covered immigration, the COVID-19 pandemic and investment in Latin America. López Obrador reported that Biden promised the United States would spend $4 billion to further develop Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala in the hope that this investment would address the roo
