Security talks fail to focus on crisis at shared border
MEXICO CITY — The United States and Mexico began overhauling an aged security agreement Friday to better confront the flow of criminal activity between the two nations, but officials at the high-level talks conspicuously sought to avoid focusing on the ever-growing migrant crisis on their shared border.
It was a striking omission, given the thousands of people, largely from Central America and the Caribbean, crowded on the Mexican side of the border, many in squalid camps, seeking entry to the United States.
And it underscored the inertia in both governments for finding a broad solution for managing the crisis, particularly after the U.S. Supreme Court in August rejected President Joe Biden’s efforts to let some migrants in by easing asylum restrictions imposed by the Trump administration.
Instead, the top diplomats and immigration, defense, economic and legal officials from Mexico and the United States began discussing Friday a replacement to the Mérida Initiative, a security agreement signed in 2008.
That compact saw millions of dollars in weapons flow from the U.S. government to its counterparts in Mexico and Central America as part of a larger plan to combat drug trafficking. But it failed to dismantle criminal organizations or restore security; instead, since the agreement was signed, Mexico has experienced some of the worst violence it has ever seen.
Immigration was not completely ignored Friday; both sides said the migrant crisis was discussed during the talks, including over breakfast with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a news conference that collaboration between the United States and Mexico in managing migrants “has never been stronger” and suggested that both countries would enlist other regional leaders to assist, in part by focusing on the broader economic and social issues driving migration.
“We want the MexicoU. S. relationship to be about more, much more, than immigration and security,” Mr. Blinken said.
But officials said the new security agreement would mostly address how to stop human traffickers and other criminal smugglers instead of the wider problem of refugees and economic migrants stuck at the border.
Mexico’s foreign secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, said the new bilateral agreement — a three-year deal is expected to be completed in January — could be a robust framework to create more jobs in Mexico and Central America while strengthening security cooperation. By focusing on development, Mexican officials believe the new agreement could also help stem migration to the United States.
“For Mexico, it is a priority to reopen activities at the border,” Mr. Ebrard said, referring to a decision last year by the United States to close land crossings at the border with Mexico to stem the spread of the coronavirus. “They know it’s a priority; however, it was not the objective of today’s meeting.”
In Washington on Friday, 15 Democratic senators and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., urged Mr. Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security secretary, to ensure that Haitian migrants are protected — both those attempting to enter the United States and those deported. Recent images of U.S. Border Patrol officers on horseback corralling Haitian migrants in Texas were met with widespread anger and drew added attention to a broken immigration system.
Mexican officials hope the new security agreement will focus less on going head to head with drug traffickers and instead look at the causes of addiction.