According to both countries, the USA and Mexico have made progress in migration policy. In the future, a joint working group should ensure that fewer migrants reach the USA via Mexico.
The USA and Mexico want to work more closely together to curb irregular migration. Representatives of the two governments agreed on this during talks in Mexico City. Specifically, a bilateral working group is to be set up. According to Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena, this should meet regularly.
Countries of origin should be included
To ensure that fewer migrants reach the USA via Mexico, the countries of origin of most migrants in Central and South America should also be included. According to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, most of these people come from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Ecuador.
But Mexico should also do more to combat irregular migration: According to information from the AFP news agency, Mexican representatives presented the US delegation with new measures that the country is taking. This also included those against smugglers who bring migrants to the US border by train or bus.
López Obrador: “Important agreements”
In addition to President López Obrador, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall were present at the meeting at the National Palace in Mexico City. Important agreements have been reached, López Obrador wrote on the X platform, formerly Twitter.
Thousands of people on the move again
At the time of the meeting, according to local media reports, at least 7,000 migrants were walking towards the United States in southern Mexico. They had formed a caravan on Christmas Eve. Mexico is on the migration route of people seeking to reach the United States in the hope of a better life.
People are fleeing poverty, violence and political crises in their home countries. Irregular immigration is one of the dominant issues in the election campaign for the 2024 presidential election in the USA. According to the border protection agency CBP, almost 2.5 million attempted border crossings were recorded at the southern border of the USA in the 2023 fiscal year.
Christina Fee Moebus, ARD Mexico City, tagesschau, December 28, 2023 10:01 a.m