Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador thinks he can do no wrong. After all, U.S. federal courts are turning over sovereignty to the Mexican head of state at the same time he’s issuing ultimatums to the United States and thumbing his nose at Texas.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary Marquez, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, ruled that a lawsuit brought by the Mexican government against five Arizona-based firearm retailers can proceed. Mexico claims these firearm retailers are facilitating illegal firearm trafficking to Mexico. There’s no evidence of this. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) would have shut these businesses down if there was. Of course, gun control groups backing Mexico’s claims are crowing over the development.

That’s on top of the $10 billion lawsuit Mexico is also bringing, with the backing of U.S. gun control groups, against U.S. firearm manufacturers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit revived that case in January after a lower court dismissed the claims.

The irony is Mexican President López Obrador is issuing a list of demands to the United States and telling a U.S. court in the State of Texas law to fight illegal immigration would impinge on Mexico’s “sovereign right” to decide who enters the country.

Mexican Shakedown

The irony is rich, if not absurd. Mexico is running roughshod on America’s sovereignty in American courts because it refuses to enforce its own gun control laws on their side of the border. At the same time, President López Obrador is shaking down not just U.S. firearm manufacturers for $10 billion, he’s demanding $20 billion in what can only be described as “patronage fees” to Latin American countries. He also wants work visas for 10 million illegal immigrants, an end to U.S. sanctions in Venezuela and a halt to the blockade of Cuba.

The arrogance is astounding but it is being backed by weak U.S. responses and kowtowing by U.S. courts to Mexico. President López Obrador is a head-of-state only because he’s working hand-in-glove with the narco-terrorist drug cartels that are the scourge of Mexico. He refuses to confront those cartels, which are facilitating illegal firearm trafficking. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency uncovered “substantial evidence” that drug cartels funneled $2 million to his campaign and that it was impossible to divorce government officials from criminal cartels.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is demanding answers from 16 federal law enforcement agencies over a secretive Project Thor, that was designed to disrupt those known networks. It was working, until the ATF pulled the plug – at the same time Mexico brought their claims against U.S. firearm manufacturers.

Weakness Invites Arrogance

The Biden administration’s response to this shakedown was anemic. Fox News reported a Biden administration official said President López Obrador “has a very ambitious agenda.” That official added that Congress would need to act to acquiesce. The response should have been an outright rejection.

President López Obrador was equally flippant to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s law to force illegal immigrants to return to Mexico or face criminal charges.

“The Texas governor acts that way because he wants to be the Republican vice presidential candidate and wants to win popularity with these measures,” said President López Obrador, according to Fox News. “He’s not going to win anything. On the contrary, he is going to lose support because there are a lot of Mexicans in Texas, a lot of migrants.”

The Mexican president’s arrogance is being placated by the Biden administration. President Joe Biden’s administration is using a “whole-of-government”approach to attack the firearm industry and Second Amendment rights. His ATF has been issuing rules that carry criminal punishments, even though that’s the responsibility of Congress. His Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) “paused” firearm exports for 90 days but that pause continues well past 150 days with no end in sight. He installed gun control lobbyists in The White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention that appear to be colluding with Chicago to bring frivolous lawsuits against Glock.

Placating Cartels

All the while, there is no answer from the Biden administration why it stopped efforts to disrupt Mexican drug cartels illegally funneling guns south of the border. No answer has been offered for why this administration refuses to close the U.S-Mexico border when it is known that firearms are being illegally trafficked, human smuggling is becoming a multi-billion dollar narco-terrorist funding source, illicit drugs are flowing into the United States and U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies are telling Congress and the Biden administration that there are “blinking lights everywhere” warning that the United States is exposing itself to terror attacks. Just this week, the U.S. Border Patrol chief warned terrorists may be crossing the border, after the U.S. saw the reach of ISIS-K attacks in Moscow.

President López Obrador is scoffing at the United States. He is twisting U.S. law, trampling U.S. sovereignty and claiming the United States can’t enforce their own laws because it would offend Mexico. The Biden administration and U.S. courts are giving him the stage to do it.

—Mark Olivia, Courtesy of NSSF