Latin America

Joe Biden’s first foreign policy steps in Latin America

latin america Joe Biden in 2015. As Vice President to Barack Obama, he met with then-Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in Washington
Joe Biden in 2015. As Vice President to Barack Obama, he met with then-Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in Washington. Photo: Roberto Stuckert Filho/PR

The term of former U.S. President Donald Trump marked a four-year period of adversarial foreign policy toward nations in Latin America, some of which fell under Mr. Trump’s definition of “shithole countries.” Now, with Joe Biden in the White House, there are renewed hopes for relations between the U.S. and its neighbors to the south, particularly regarding Cuba, Brazil, and immigration policy as a whole.

During his first days in office, Mr. Biden overturned a series of anti-immigration policies instituted by his predecessor, including a ban on including undocumented immigrants in census numbers and — most notably — suspending the building of Mr. Trump’s wall on the Mexican border.

Previous guidelines for deportation have been canceled, in what Joe Biden considers to be a path to a more “humane scenario.” While the government urges immigrants to be “patient,” suggesting things will not change overnight, the powers of law enforcement at border controls have been reduced, and the U.S. is once again supporting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, rejected by Mr. Trump in 2017. 

Applying to the so-called “Dreamers” — children of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. — the...

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