The Undersecretary for North America, Carlos Sada, held a meeting today with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee who is heading a trade mission to Mexico City and the border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana to boost trade and tourism between Mexico and San Francisco.

During the meeting, the Undersecretary applauded Mayor Lee's visit to Mexico to emphasize that the state of California and the city of San Francisco welcome Mexican immigrants and visitors. He expressed his appreciation to the Mayor's administration for its defense of immigrants' rights and for acknowledging the contributions they make to San Francisco on a daily basis. They also discussed the Mexican government's special efforts to enhance its assistance to the Mexicans in the United States, and explored the possibility of collaborating. 

Lastly, Undersecretary Sada invited the mayor to take part in the fourth annual "Mex I Am" festival, held every year in San Francisco. Last year, 74 Mexican performers participated in the event, which was attended by about 13,500 people. This year, the state of Jalisco will be the guest of honor. Cultural events showcasing Mexico and Jalisco's cultural wealth will be held from the July 16-23.

Mexico is California's second largest trading partner worldwide. In 2016, bilateral trade between Mexico and California exceeded USD 70 billion dollars. In addition, California has the largest Mexican community outside of Mexico. About 65,659 people of Mexican background live in San Francisco. Over 17 million people visited San Francisco in 2016, of which 7.9 million were from Mexico.