WASHINGTON ( Associated Press) – President Joe Biden marked Cinco de Mayo on Thursday by honoring the impact that Mexican Americans and other immigrant communities have made in the United States, as he held a White House party with Mexico’s first lady. was hosted.
Beatriz Gutierrez Muller, wife of Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador, joined Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for the Rose Garden reception, with tables wrapped in orange, blue, lime-green and other party colors.
“We are an immigrant nation. We say so, but people act like they don’t believe it,” said Biden, who left the podium to personally greet Gutierrez Mueller. is our strength.”
The president urged lawmakers in his first week in office to approve an immigration overhaul sent to Congress that has stalled. He added that even if that measure does not pass, small initiatives that have bipartisan support could still be acted upon, including protecting people who were illegally brought into the United States as children.
About 100 attendees ate steak tacos, pork tamales, empanadas, ceviche, jicama salad and watermelon, as well as chocolate-dipped churros. Margaritas on the rocks, beer and other beverage options were also served as the chef mashed avocado for guacamole in a large molcajete.
The day marks Mexico’s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, where Mexican troops outnumbered Napoleon III’s forces. Cinco de Mayo has become more popular in the United States than in Mexico. It gives Mexican Americans a chance to celebrate Mexican heritage, but the day is also heavily promoted for commercial purposes by beer and snack companies.
“Our relationship with Mexico is special,” said Jill Biden, “who always says politics is personal. And I’m grateful for continuing to build our friendship.”
US presidents on both sides have tried to use Cinco de Mayo to celebrate the contributions of Mexican-Americans – a growing and powerful voting bloc.
The exception was President Donald Trump, whose main campaign promise before the 2016 election was vowing to close the entire US-Mexico border. Cinco de Mayo, the 45th president, did not attend the ceremony, although he issued a statement in 2018 lauding the “significant contribution of Mexican Americans to the United States”.
Trump also tweeted about the holiday before being banned from the social media site. As a candidate in 2016, he praised the taco bowls on the menu at the Trump Tower office building in Manhattan, writing that “I like Hispanics”.
Last year, Biden celebrated the day by visiting a Washington taqueria that had benefited from a Biden administration program to help eateries that were losing business. Due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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