Mexico leader hails ‘important agreements’ with US on migrants, other issues

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday said he achieved “important agreements” with senior US officials on surging migration and other issues.

Lopez Obrador hailed the outcome of talks with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, held in Mexico City to “directly address issues of economic cooperation, security and migration.”

“Important agreements were reached for the benefit of our peoples and nations,” Lopez Obrador posted on X, formerly
Twitter, without providing additional details.

“Now, more than ever, the policy of good neighborliness is indispensable.”

The post-Christmas trip by Blinken and Mayorkas to Mexico underscored the importance to President Joe Biden of finding a way forward to combat surging migration.

Republican lawmakers in Congress are pressing the White House to crack down on migration as a condition for voting for one of Biden’s key priorities — support for Ukraine.

US border police have in recent weeks reported approximately 10,000 migrant crossings every day.

The previous fiscal year, from October 2022 through September 2023, saw a record 2.4 million encounters by US border patrol with migrants, including at official ports of entry and elsewhere along the southern border.