Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Friday called Mexico “a great partner to the United States” following his meeting with President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico City this week.
“We are actively discussing how we can jointly combat illicit traffic across our shared border, such as illegal immigration coming north, and bulk cash and firearms flowing south,” Kelly said in a statement. “We are also examining how we will use technologies, data-sharing, joint training and harmonized business practices to improve trade and legal travel between our countries, making it faster, more efficient and more secure.”
Kelly met with Pena Nieto and other Mexican government officials, including Finance Secretary Jose Antonio Meade Kuribrena, Foreign Affairs Secretary Luis Videgaray Caso, and Attorney General Raul Cervantes Andrade over the course of his three-day trip.
Their discussions focused on “security, trade facilitation, immigration control, drug interdiction, drug demand reduction in the United States and joint efforts to confront transnational organized crime,” the Department of Homeland Security said.
Kelly is scheduled to meet with Mexican Interior Secretary Miguel Osorio Chong on Friday before he returns to the U.S.
The trip to America’s closest Central American neighbor is Kelly’s second as DHS secretary.
Earlier Friday, Trump said he still believes Mexico should “absolutely” pay for a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
“We’re negotiating NAFTA and some other things with Mexico and we’ll see how it all turns out, but I think we’ve made very good progress,” Trump told the press after meeting with Pena Nieto at the G-20 summit in Germany.
