Mexican and senior United States officials have discussed how to address "root causes" of Central American migration during meetings aimed at stemming increased illegal border crossings into the US, Mexico's government says.
Asylum seekers, most from Honduras, walk towards a US Border Patrol checkpoint after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico on March 23, 2021 near Mission, Texas. Photo: John Moore / Getty Images / AFP
President Joe Biden's administration sent envoys including border co-ordinator Roberta Jacobson to Mexico to discuss the increase in arrivals at the border. Initial talks began in Mexico on Tuesday (local time) and will continue in Guatemala.
"Humanitarian actions were highlighted to promote, in the short term, inclusive economic development in the north of Central America that mitigates the root causes behind migratory flows in the region," Mexico's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The officials, including Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, also discussed different mechanisms for "orderly and safe" migration, and the protection of human rights, particularly those of children, the ministry said.
There was no immediate comment from the White House on the outcome of the talks.
In contrast to the diplomatic language, Mexico this week launched a renewed migration enforcement operation headed by militarised police and soldiers in the south of the country to deter thousands of migrants every week fleeing a deep economic recession and storm destruction in Honduras and Guatemala.
The Mexican government's own human ombudsman demanded the rights of migrants be respected in the new operation, in which soldiers and police will employ drones and night vision goggles to catch migrants.
In the US, officials are struggling to house and process an increasing number of unaccompanied children, many of whom have been stuck in jail-like border stations for days while they await placement in overwhelmed government-run shelters.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador earlier reiterated his position that Washington should help spur development in Central America.
"People don't go to the United States for fun, they go out of necessity," Lopez Obrador said. "There needs to be support for the development of Central America and the south of Mexico. Particularly Central America."
For years, the bulk of people seeking to cross illegally into the United States have come from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the poorer regions of southern Mexico.
The White House on Monday said the United States would work together with Mexico and Central American governments to mitigate the causes of migration, and to emphasise to their populations that now is not the time to go north.
Jacobson is being joined by Juan Gonzalez, the National Security Council's senior director for the Western Hemisphere, and Ricardo Zuniga, named this week as a special envoy focusing on Central America.
Zuniga becomes the first US special envoy for the region since the Cold War-era conflicts of the 1980s.
Biden, a Democrat, has vowed to adopt a more humanitarian policy towards migrants than his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, as well as to open up a pathway to citizenship for many living in the United States.
Mexico says the change in policy has encouraged people to think that it is now easier to enter the United States.
- Reuters