Secretary of Homeland Security visit to Mexico
March 14, 2022
Institutional Context
The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and the position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the attacks of September 11, 2001. The new department consisted primarily of components transferred from other Cabinet departments because of their role in homeland security, such as the Coast Guard, the Federal Protective Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (which includes the United States Border Patrol), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (which includes Homeland Security Investigations), the United States Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Secretary of Homeland Security visit to Mexico*
On March 14th, the U.S. delegation, led by the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, visited Mexico City. The meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the delegations exchanged data and information on the most recent irregular migratory flows in the region. Both delegates agreed on the importance of moving forward with a regional approach to migration, in order to observe orderly, safe and regular migration flows in order to protect the human rights of migrants.
At the meeting, Foreign Minister Ebrard emphasized the need to accelerate international cooperation to address the root causes of irregular migratory flows, particularly in the countries of northern Central America. Secretary Mayorkas and Ambassador Ken Salazar agreed on the need to strengthen efforts in this area both by the United States and jointly with Mexico. Finally, both delegations agreed to speed up efforts to modernize border processes and infrastructure. Specifically, they agreed that the project in the Calibaja region of the new Otay Mesa II – Otay Mesa East international crossing is a strategic priority of the bilateral relationship.
The Mexican delegation, led by Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, was made up of the commissioner of the National Migration Institute (INM), Francisco Garduño; the undersecretary of Public Security, Ricardo Mejía; the adviser to the INM commissioner, Armando López; and on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Head of Unit for North America, Roberto Velasco; the general director of Political Coordination, Ximena Escobedo; the Strategy coordinator for North America, Arturo Rocha; and the director of North American Border Affairs, Pablo Gálvez.
The United States delegation, led by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, was made up of the United States Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar; the Deputy Head of Mission of the United States Embassy in Mexico, Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath; the Senior Director for Cross-Border Issues at the National Security Council, Katie Tobin; the Under Secretary for International Affairs of DHS, Serena Hoy; the acting undersecretary of DHS, Blas Núñez Nieto; Deputy Bureau Chief, DHS, Jeffrey Rezmovic; and the DHS Attaché at the US Embassy in Mexico, Edgar Ramírez.
