MEXICO CITY: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said his administration will continue to press the US to legalise the status of Mexican immigrants.

“We are going to continue to insist that the commitment to legalise our countrymen be fulfilled,” Lopez Obrador told reporters at a press conference on Friday in the northern state of Sonora, which shares a border with the US.

The President lamented that US discussions on immigration reform are currently on hold due to campaigning for the upcoming midterm elections in November, and he urged the candidates to avoid “racism” in their drive to garner voter support, Xinhua news agency reported.

“If a party or candidate thinks they are going to get votes by speaking poorly of Mexicans, then we are going to denounce those actions from here so that our countrymen over there know who is who,” he added.

Lopez Obrador recalled that Barack Obama was the first US President to commit to legalising the status of undocumented immigrants in 2012, when current President Joe Biden was Vice-President.