The United States, Mexico and Guatemala on Wednesday pledged to deepen their cooperation to address illegal migration after a round of ministerial level talks in Washington, DC, as migration and border issues continue to loom large over US domestic politics.
The three nations are expected to announce the creation of an “operational cell to jointly tackle migration issues,” a senior administration official said on a call with reporters Tuesday. Guatemala is also expected be announced as the next host for the Los Angeles Declaration ministerial in April, the official said.
The US has relied on partners to the south to drive down crossings at the US-Mexico border and recently attributed a dramatic decline in crossings to Mexico’s increased enforcement. The US and Mexico have held an additional two rounds of talks since December.
Wednesday’s meeting was expected to focus on four key areas: working together on the root causes of illegal migration, “opportunities to deepen our trilateral efforts to expand legal pathways” for migration, “joint commitments to strengthen the management of irregular migration flows,” and “coordination on future ministerial level meetings,” the official said.
Asked about assessments that the strategy to address root causes has largely failed, a second senior administration official countered that “this is certainly a long-term effort that requires lots of work from throughout the US government, throughout international organizations, foundations, and otherwise.”
“We believe that has been successful,” they said.
