Harris talks migration with López Obrador
MEXICO CITY — Vice President Kamala Harris told Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Tuesday that the United States and Mexico are “embarking on a new era” during her first inperson meeting with the leader, as she seeks to foster greater cooperation with Mexico on immigration to the U.S.
Speaking at the start of their bilateral meeting at the Mexican national palace, Harris emphasized the longstanding “interdependence and interconnection” of the two nations.
Joined by her top foreign policy aides for the region, the two leaders met for over an hour in an elegant conference room at the palace, seated across from each other under a grand crystal chandelier.
Just prior to the meeting,
Harris and López Obrador watched as the Mexican foreign affairs secretary and the charge d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at greater cooperation between the two countries on development programs in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
Harris was slated to meet with female entrepreneurs and labor leaders in Mexico before heading back to Washington Tuesday night.
The visit to Mexico capped Harris’ first foreign trip as vice president, a brief foray focused on dealing with the root causes of migration that brought her first to Guatemala on Monday. While in Guatemala, she met President Alejandro Giammattei. To coincide with their meeting, the Biden administration announced a number of new commitments to combat trafficking, smuggling and corruption, as well as investments in economic development in the country.
Her visit to Mexico didn’t yield any clear and concrete agreements; instead she emphasized the importance of the relationship.
López Obrador remains a key but complicated ally in the Biden administration’s efforts to curb the spike in migration at the U.S. border.
While López Obrador committed in a previous virtual meeting with Harris that the U.S. can “count on us” to help address irregular migration, the Mexican president has in the past blamed President Biden for the increase in migration at the border. And he was chummy with Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, despite that president’s hardline border policies.
In May, he also accused the U.S. of violating Mexico’s sovereignty by giving money to
nongovernmental organizations that were critical of his government. Harris was looking to strengthen diplomatic relations with Mexico while addressing the core reasons why so many people from the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras as well as Mexico are compelled to try to flee to the U.S.