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2023.12.29 13:27 GMT+8

Mexico, U.S. agree to strengthen cooperation to mitigate irregular migration

Updated 2023.12.29 13:27 GMT+8
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Migrants seeking asylum wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after having crossed the Rio Grande River from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua State, Mexico, December 28, 2023. /CFP

Mexico and the United States have agreed to strengthen their collaboration to address "the root causes" of irregular migration and to halt human trafficking, Mexico's Foreign Ministry (SRE) announced Thursday.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador received a delegation of high-level U.S. officials in Mexico City on Wednesday, following the agreement made last week with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, to address new measures to reduce irregular migratory flows, the SRE said in a statement.

The SRE detailed that the two countries at the meeting reaffirmed their commitment to promoting orderly, humane and regular migration.

"This includes strengthening our cooperation to address the root causes of migration, such as poverty, inequality and violence," the ministry said.

"Ongoing cooperation also includes enhanced efforts to disrupt human smuggling, trafficking, and criminal networks, and continuing the work to promote legal instead of irregular migration pathways," it added.

The two countries' delegations agreed to meet again in the U.S. in January 2024 to continue advancing their joint management of migration in the context of the regional migration crisis.

In November, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded 242,418 migrant detentions along the border with Mexico, mostly Central Americans and South Americans.

In recent days, the flow of migrants on the border with the United States rose to unprecedented levels of between 10,000 and 12,000 per day, which led to the partial closure of some crossings.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency
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