Published on
Friday, March 19, 2021
byCommon Dreams
Watchdog Urges Congress to Probe Whether Biden 'Bartered' Vaccines for
Mexico Migration Crackdown
"The Biden administration should not be in the business of trading Mexican
lives for those of other Central and South Americans, for whom migration to
the U.S. is often life-saving."
byJake Johnson, staff writer
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki looks on during the daily press
briefing at the White House on March 18, 2021 in Washington, D.C.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki looks on during the daily press
briefing at the White House on March 18, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo:
Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
A government watchdog group on Friday demanded that Congress exercise its
oversight powers to determine whether the Biden administration used surplus
coronavirus vaccines as a bargaining tool to pressure the Mexican government
to crack down more harshly on rising U.S.-bound migration.
Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, said in a
statement that he is "concerned about the possibility that President Biden
may have bartered millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to achieve
his anti-migration goals."
"Congress should determine whether the U.S. is living up to its
responsibilities to asylum seekers, rebuilding the U.S.-Mexico relationship
undermined by Donald Trump, and acting to ensure the most rapid deployment
of vaccines possible across the globe."
-Jeff Hauser, Revolving Door Project
"The Biden administration should not be in the business of trading Mexican
lives for those of other Central and South Americans, for whom migration to
the U.S. is often life-saving," said Hauser.
On Thursday, the Biden White House announced a plan to send 2.5 million
doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to Mexico, an agreement that
came amid reports that the U.S. president has been urging his Mexican
counterpart behind the scenes to do more to stem the number of migrants
arriving at the border between the neighboring countries. The AstraZeneca
shot has not yet been approved for use in the U.S.
At around the same time the Biden administration made public its intention
to grant Mexico's request for surplus vaccine doses-which the U.S. had
previously denied other nations seeking access to the stockpile-the Mexican
government said Thursday that it would tighten restrictions on travel
through its southern border with Guatemala and its northern border with the
United States. The timing immediately prompted questions about a potential
quid pro quo.
Unnamed U.S. and Mexican officials insisted to news outlets that the newly
announced migration crackdown did not come in exchange for the vaccine
doses. "It's not a quid pro quo. It's a parallel negotiation," an anonymous
senior Mexican diplomat told the Washington Post.
But White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki's roundabout answer to a
reporter's direct question Thursday about whether there was any quid pro quo
involved in the talks with Mexico raised eyebrows.
"There have been expectations set outside of-unrelated-to any vaccine doses
or request for them that [Mexico] would be partners in dealing with the
crisis on the border," Psaki said during a press briefing on Thursday. "And
there have been requests, unrelated... for doses of these vaccines. Every
relationship has multiple layers of conversations that are happening at the
same time."
Asked whether the U.S. is using its vaccine stockpile to "effect diplomacy,"
Psaki responded: "I'm actually trying to convey that with every country,
there's rarely just one issue you're discussing with any country at one
time. Right? Certainly that's not the case with Mexico; it's not the case
with any country around the world."
"I wouldn't read into it more than our ability to provide, to lend vaccine
doses of a vaccine that we have some available supply on to a neighboring
country where there is a lot of traffic that goes back and forth between the
countries," Psaki added.
Hauser of the Revolving Door Project called Psaki's explanation for the
vaccine agreement and coinciding migrant crackdown "clumsy at best" and
demanded "congressional oversight" of the arrangements.
"Given the high stakes of these issues," said Hauser, "Congress should
determine whether the U.S. is living up to its responsibilities to asylum
seekers, rebuilding the U.S.-Mexico relationship undermined by Donald Trump,
and acting to ensure the most rapid deployment of vaccines possible across
the globe."
Addressing the Biden administration's decision to donate 2.5 million vaccine
doses to Mexico and 1.5 million to Canada on its own terms, Public Citizen's
Peter Maybarduk said in a statement Thursday that "charitable sharing and
rationing" are "no substitute for the ambitious manufacturing program that
the world needs and that the U.S. can provide, for a fraction of the cost of
inaction."
Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, argued in a report last
month that a $25 billion investment in vaccine production by the U.S. would
"produce enough vaccine for low- and middle-income countries" that are
currently struggling to inoculate their populations. As Common Dreams has
reported, the U.S. and other rich nations are currently blocking an India
and South Africa-led effort to temporarily suspend vaccine-related patent
rights to facilitate global production and distribution.
"As people across the U.S. appreciate this 100 million dose milestone, it is
important to remember that for most of the world, there are no vaccines in
sight and no foreseeable end to the pandemic," said Maybarduk. "Instead of
only rationing better, the U.S. can help the world manufacture more, and
ration less, and in so doing better prepare capabilities to defend against
coronavirus variants that may threaten people living in the U.S.
"President Biden should announce a plan to help the world make billions of
more doses of Covid-19 vaccine within a year's time," Maybarduk added. "Each
day we wait to be more ambitious about our global response, more people will
lose their lives."
