This archive report was first published on 22 July 2019.
On July 21, 2019, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Luis Ebrard in Mexico City, marking a significant shift in the tone of US-Mexico relations. The meeting came after a high-stakes June 7 meeting in Washington, where the two countries agreed to work together to address the growing migration crisis.
According to the State Department, Pompeo thanked Ebrard for Mexico's increased immigration enforcement efforts, which have led to a reduction in the number of illegal immigrants arriving at the US southern border. Initial indications suggest that the number of migrants coming into Mexico from Central American countries has fallen from 144,000 in May to 100,000 in June.
The meeting also focused on recovering the wealth of notorious drug trafficker Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the US last week. The US judge ordered Guzman to forfeit $12.6 billion, but Mexico wants the money to stay in that country. Pompeo and Ebrard discussed creating a binational group to study the matter.
Additionally, the two diplomats discussed the status of the not-yet-ratified North American trade agreement. Ebrard said that Mexico's strategy to ensure orderly, safe, and regular migrant flows will continue for the next 45 days.
Pompeo's meeting with Ebrard was part of a regional trip that began in Argentina and Ecuador. He later traveled to El Salvador for a meeting with President Nayib Bukele, where they discussed ways to reduce migration, fight corruption, and strengthen Salvadoran law enforcement.
