The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, met yesterday in Mexico City with a delegation of senior U.S. officials led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall.
The president thanked President Joe Biden for sending the U.S. delegation to Mexico following last week's telephone conversation between the two leaders that focused on immigration management.
Both countries reaffirmed their existing commitments to promote orderly, humane and regular migration. This includes strengthening our collaboration to address the root causes of migration, such as poverty, inequality and violence, and the joint initiative for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.
Our continued cooperation also includes intensified efforts to disrupt human smuggling, trafficking and criminal networks, and continued work to promote legal rather than irregular pathways for human mobility. In addition, both delegations agreed on the importance of maintaining and facilitating the vital bilateral trade on our shared border.
President López Obrador highlighted President Biden's commitment to seeking regular, orderly and safe migration. He stressed the need for continued diplomatic and political engagement with all countries of the region, and to invest in ambitious development programs throughout the hemisphere of the Americas.
Both delegations highlighted the efforts that the Biden administration is carrying out with development assistance and humanitarian aid, and by promoting new private investment in the region.
The delegations also discussed the benefits of regularizing the situation of Hispanic migrants who have been undocumented for several years and the DACA beneficiaries, who are a vital part of the US economy and society.
Both delegations agreed to meet again in Washington, D.C. in January 2024 to continue advancing our strong partnership on migration management.
President López Obrador was accompanied by Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena Ibarra; Secretary of the Interior Luisa María Alcalde Luján; Secretary of Defense Luis Cresencio Sandoval; Secretary of the Navy José Rafael Ojeda; Secretary of Security and Civil Protection Rosa Icela Rodríguez; Mexican Ambassador to the U.S., Esteban Moctezuma Barragán; Arturo Félix Medina, Undersecretary of Human Rights, Population and Migration at the Interior Ministry; Chief Officer for North America Roberto Velasco Álvarez; Armando López Cárdenas, advisor to the National Institute of Migration (INM) commissioner; and Alejandro Celorio, Legal Advisor at the Foreign Ministry.
On President Biden's side, the United States was represented by Secretary of State Antony Blinken; Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas; U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar; White House Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall; and Katie Tobin, Special Assistant to President Biden and Senior Director for Transborder at the National Security Council.