WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — A delegation of top U.S. officials is expected to visit Mexico soon as negotiations over how to enforce immigration rules at the countries' shared border continue on Capitol Hill.
The upcoming visit to Mexico comes amid controversy over the closure of two rail crossings in Texas earlier this week.
President Joe Biden spoke with Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Thursday and agreed additional border enforcement is needed so the crossings can be reopened, according to White House national security spokesman John Kirby.
Kirby said Biden asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall to travel to Mexico in the coming days to meet with López Obrador and his team to discuss further action to address the challenge.
A U.S. official said the trip is likely to begin Dec. 27.
In a White House briefing, Kirby said the visit “will really be about getting at the migratory flows and talking to President López Obrador and his team about what more we can do together.”
Mexican Employers’ Association described the closure of rail crossings into Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, as a “failure of migration policy.” The organization said the situation was causing losses of $100 million per day in delayed shipments.
Mexico receives much of the corn and soy products it needs to feed livestock by rail from the United States. Auto parts and automobiles also frequently are shipped by rail in Mexico.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the decision was made “to redirect personnel to assist the U.S. Border Patrol with taking migrants into custody.”
But is also appears the U.S. government wants a crackdown by Mexico on migrants riding rail cars to the U.S. border.
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