US, Mexican Officials Discuss Border, Immigration
US, Mexican Officials Discuss Border, Immigration
U.S. and Mexican government and business leaders analyzed cross-border commerce, infrastructure investments, and immigration reform at COA’s conference in El Paso, Texas.
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A panel of U.S. and Mexican diplomats, politicians, and business leaders have met in West Texas to discuss cross-border commerce, infrastructure investments and immigration reform.
The U.S. - Mexico Competitiveness agenda conference focused on the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. The event happened Wednesday at the University of Texas at El Paso's campus, just across the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
"The truth about the border is not in Mexico City or Washington D.C. You have to come to the border to know that truth," said Mexican ambassador to the U.S. Eduardo Medina.
The event was co-hosted by UTEP and the Council of the Americas and focused on the economic relationship between the two countries nearly 20 years after the North American Free Trade Agreement was implemented.
U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, an El Paso Democrat, lambasted the plan included in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill recently passed by the Senate that contemplates spending $46 billion on doubling the size of the Border Patrol and building nearly 700 miles of border fence, while the ports of entry, manned by Customs and Borders Protection, are understaffed....