US senators wrap up talks in Mexico on migration issues

MEXICO CITY — A delegation of five U.S. senators wound up two days of talks Tuesday with Mexican officials on migration and cross-border issues.

The three Republicans and two Democrats met Monday with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who called the conversation “cordial and friendly.”

The senators met Tuesday with other Mexican officials. U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia wrote in his social media accounts that the talks focused on the “shared commitment to addressing the root causes of migration and enhancing our trade relationship.”

López Obrador said they also talked about how to handle the “clear and evident advance of Asia” in the region.

The issue closest to the Mexican president’s heart is the lifting of coronavirus restrictions on non-essential cross border travel.

“We also spoke about completely opening the border as quickly as possible,” López Obrador said.

Mexico hopes that roughly equalizing the vaccination rates on both sides of the border will hasten the lifting of those restrictions.

Mexico is in the process of vaccinating residents of its border states with 1.35 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine donated by the United States.

The Mexican government has completed the vaccination drive in the border states of Baja California and Sonora, and is starting in Chihuahua. Moving eastward, the states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas will follow.