FACT SHEET: U.S.-Mexico High-Level Security Dialogue

“From the earliest days of our nations, the people of Mexico and the United States have shared a strong bond, united by our shared values and our shared aspirations. And throughout our history, we have learned that we are stronger when we stand together as neighbors, partners, and friends.”

President Joe Biden
September 27, 2021

Today, the United States and Mexico opened a new era in security cooperation based on partnership, guided by shared responsibility, and driven by a national security interest in both countries to stop criminal groups from smuggling the illicit drugs and weapons that threaten the health and safety of our citizens, and engage in human smuggling and human trafficking. The U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Heath, and Safe Communities establishes a comprehensive, long-term approach for binational actions to pursue the safety and security of our societies. The framework is informed by the drug policy priorities of the Biden-Harris Administration, which promote an evidence-based public health and public safety approach to reducing drug demand, overdoses, and saving lives, as well as a focus on ensuring racial equity, community based crime prevention, and the promotion of harm-reduction efforts.  

The United States and Mexico are committed to transforming our cooperation to better protect the health and safety of our citizens and promote the development of the most vulnerable communities in both countries, prevent criminal organizations from harming our countries, and pursue and bring criminals to justice. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo discussed the bilateral framework and security priorities with Mexican counterparts today, after meeting with President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador.  They confirmed cabinet officials from the United States and Mexico will meet annually to advance implementation of the new framework, while sub-cabinet officials work toward these goals year-round.  

Across all areas, we commit to work together to protect human rights consistent with our international obligations, share information and best practices, prosecute those who violate our laws, and regularly and transparently evaluate the impact of our efforts.

GOAL 1:  PROTECT OUR PEOPLE

The United States and Mexico seek to build sustainable, healthy, and secure communities to benefit citizens of both nations.

• Public Health – Prevent and reduce substance abuse, while limiting harms associated with addiction; improve access to substance abuse treatment and recovery support; share best practices and lessons learned to better understand substance abuse patterns; explore alternatives to incarceration for substance abuse cases.

• Support Safe Communities – Reduce exploitation of vulnerable people by criminal groups through education and economic opportunity, and address the root causes of violence while promoting human rights and responding to the needs of victims and communities.   

• Homicide and High-Impact Crime Reduction– Reduce the number of homicides in Mexico by targeting the actors and enablers of violence and effectively and consistently conducting homicide investigations, professionalize the criminal justice and law enforcement systems, and expand knowledge to implement best practices to combat gender-based violence.

GOAL 2:  PREVENT TRANSBORDER CRIME – The United States and Mexico seek to diminish the capacity of Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and prevent trafficking of drugs, arms, wildlife, and people, as well as human smuggling.

• Secure Modes of Travel and Commerce – Strengthen oversight and coordination at air, land, sea, and rail ports of entry; foster the collaborative, efficient, and secure management of all aspects of the U.S.-Mexico border; improve container control and detection of chemical precursors, bulk cash, and counterfeit goods; and expand regulatory and enforcement capacity to control synthetic drugs and precursors.

• Reduce Arms Trafficking – Increase binational efforts to reduce illicit arms trafficking through expansion of tracing cooperation, collaboration on investigations, and investments in ballistics technology.  Share information to maximize law enforcement, investigative, and prosecutorial impact of finding and seizing firearms; and share post-seizure information with law enforcement.

• Disrupt the Capacity of TCOs and their Illicit Supply Chains – Reduce TCO drug sales capacity and prosecute corruption cases and TCO-related crimes, with a focus on drug laboratories and precursor chemicals.

• Reduce Human Smuggling and Trafficking – Identify, target, and dismantle human smuggling and trafficking organizations while protecting the human rights and safety of vulnerable populations, and expand targeted prosecutions of smuggling and trafficking networks.

GOAL 3:  PURSUE CRIMINAL NETWORKS – Disrupt TCO financial networks and reduce their ability to profit from illicit activities both transnationally and in cyberspace.

• Disrupt Illicit Financiers – Enhance information-sharing to combat money laundering related to illicit activities; identify, freeze, and seize assets of criminal actors involved in corrupt activities; indict, arrest, and extradite key financial facilitators.
• Strengthen Capacity of Security and Justice Sector Actors to Investigate and Prosecute Organized Crime – Collaborate on investigations and prosecutions of organized crime across all areas and in both countries by building capabilities and accountability, and promoting cooperation between police, investigators, analysts, and prosecutors; ensure courts support victims and preserve human and civil rights, and increase the number of dedicated personnel focused on TCO cases; and ensure robust, fully functioning justice systems through partnership and capacity building. 

• Increase Cooperation on Extraditions – Increase bilateral cooperation to facilitate the extradition of TCO members and related actors under each nation’s laws.

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