- As strategic partners, both delegations expressed their interest in expanding the bilateral dialogue on security, migration, border issues and fentanyl trafficking.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador met yesterday with White House Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall at the National Palace. The president reaffirmed the Mexican government's commitment to working together with the United States to manage migration in an orderly and secure manner, taking a regional perspective and addressing its root causes while fully respecting the sovereignty of both countries and the policy of good neighborliness, friendship and cooperation.
Subsequently, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena Ibarra then led the Mexican delegation that spoke with the U.S. delegation led by Ms. Sherwood-Randall to continue the dialogue between the two presidents.
Both delegations reviewed the progress of the joint binational strategy on migration and highlighted the cordial relationship between Mexico and the United States. They emphasized the importance of continuing bilateral efforts and addressing the structural causes of human mobility in order to achieve orderly, safe and regular migration with a regional perspective.
They discussed joint actions to address the synthetic opioid epidemic and to combat arms trafficking, issues that have a negative impact on North America. They agreed that the exchange of information and the use of tracing programs will be key to disrupting the illicit entry of guns and fentanyl precursor chemicals across our shared border.
The meeting furthered the spirit of cooperation between Mexico and the United States to continue building a more prosperous and secure region for the benefit of our people.
The two delegations will meet again today with a delegation from Canada for the third meeting of the Trilateral Fentanyl Committee.
In addition to Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena, Mexico was represented by the Secretaries for Security, Rosa Icela Rodríguez Velázquez; Interior (Segob), Luisa María Alcalde Luján; Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval González; and the Navy, José Rafael Ojeda Durán; Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero; Mexico’s Ambassador to the U.S. Esteban Moctezuma Barranquilla; Undersecretary of Human Rights, Population and Migration Félix Arturo Medina Padilla at the Ministry of the Interior; Chief Officer for North America Roberto Velasco Álvarez; Armando López Cárdenas, Chief of Staff, National Migration Institute; and the head of the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris), Alejandro Svarch Pérez.
The U.S. delegation included White House Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall; U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar; Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard R. Verma; Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco; Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Kristie Canegallo; Deputy Director of National Drug Control Policy Adam W. Cohen; National Security Council Senior Advisor Juan Gonzalez; DHS Assistant Secretary Blas Nuñez-Neto; Tiffany Eppelheimer, Senior Director, National Security Council; and U.S. Embassy Mexico Deputy Chief of Mission Mark Johnson.
