Joint Declaration Between United States and Mexico on Border Security

Introduction

On June 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released a joint declaration between the United States and Mexico on stemming the flow of migrants across the United States border from Mexico. The provisions of the declaration were agreed upon after negotiations between the United States and Mexican governments. In this post, we will briefly examine the declaration, which you can read for yourself here [PDF version].

Summary of Joint Declaration

First, the Mexican government pledged to “take unprecedented steps to increase enforcement to curb irregular migration…” These steps will include the deployment of the Mexican National Guard throughout Mexico, with a focus on Mexico's own southern border. Mexico also pledged to continue taking “decisive action” against human smuggling and trafficking organizations. The United States and Mexico committed to the strengthening of cooperation to better secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

Second, the United States will now expand the implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols across the entire Southern border with Mexico. The Migrant Protection Protocols — which have been subjected to litigation — allow the United States to return certain asylum seekers to Mexico to await adjudication of their claims. Mexico pledged to authorize the entrance of all such aliens returned under the Migrant Protection Protocols. Mexico also pledged to “offer jobs, healthcare and education according to its principles.” For its part, the United States committed “to work to accelerate the adjudication of asylum claims and to conclude removal proceedings as expeditiously as possible.”

Third, the United States and Mexico recognized that the agreements reached in the declaration might not achieve the desired effect of sufficiently curtailing irregular migration across the U.S.-Mexico border. Thus, the parties agreed to “take further actions” if necessary. The United States and Mexico will continue to discuss the border situation and work to reach additional understandings for addressing migrant flow. The discussions will be completed and the new measures announced within 90 days, if necessary.

Fourth and finally, the United States and Mexico reiterated a previous joint statement from December 18, 2018, regarding the role of promoting economic development in southern Mexico and in Central America in curbing irregular migration. The United States and Mexico pledged to work together with regional and international partners to promote development and stability in Central America.

Conclusion

The joint declaration between the United States and Mexico came in the wake of a threat by President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Mexico if it did not take effective measures to reduce migrant inflows across the southern border. It remains to be seen if the policies announced in the joint declaration will have an effect on reducing border crossing numbers. We will update the website with more information regarding the joint declaration and any subsequent policies that result from the bilateral discussions between the United States and Mexico.