The day before President Donald Trump headed to the southern border, the Mexican ambassador to the United States held a news conference at the Mexican embassy in Washington, D.C., saying “migration will never be stopped” because it is “intrinsic to humanity.”

Ambassador Martha Barcena, who was appointed as the top diplomat to the United States by Mexico’s new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said her country would continue to cooperate with the Trump administration to address “the root causes” of migration.

“Migration will never be stopped,” she said. “It is intrinsic to humanity. But what we can do is to do it in a regular way, in an orderly way that protects human rights.”

During a press conference held @EmbamexEUA, Ambassador @Martha_Barcena said that “closing the border doesn’t benefit anyone and it would generate terrible damage, no only to the economies of 🇲🇽 y 🇺🇸, but it would also affect the existent levels of trust between both nations.” pic.twitter.com/NgKHPcOjLD

— Embassy of Mexico in the U.S. (@EmbamexEUA) April 5, 2019

Asked whether Trump’s policies and threats to close the border made things worse, Bárcena stressed the need for cooperation between the two countries.

“I respect him enormously. He’s the president of the United States,” she said. “What I want to underline is that we want to cooperate. We want to continue to say to everybody that Mexico is willing to have a good relationship, that we need to work with the U.S. There are certain challenges, and one of them is migration. If we don’t cooperate, if we don’t see migration from a regional basis, we will not address the root causes of migration.”

Barcena was also a guest at the Center for American Progress on Thursday, and the Mexican embassy posted highlights of her remarks there on its Twitter page, including that Barcena said one of Mexico’s priorities is having the border seen as “an innovative space.”

At a meeting at @amprog, Amb. @Martha_Barcena highlighted the priorities of 🇲🇽 in its relationship with the 🇺🇸: attract investment, ratify #USMCA, view the border as an innovative space, increase dialogue with political actors, and underline Mexican contributions to the #US. pic.twitter.com/9XL0B7ET9i

— Embassy of Mexico in the U.S. (@EmbamexEUA) April 5, 2019

Another one of Mexico’s priorities, Barcena said at the event, is highlighting “Mexican contributions to the US.”

She also said, according to another tweet, that the United States “cannot be explained with the great contributions of Mexicans to this country” – though it seems they meant to write “without.”

.@amprog, Amb. @Martha_Barcena emphasized that the relationship with the #US should be based on mutual trust, with a shared view of a common future. She added that the #US cannot be explained with the great contributions of Mexicans to this country. 🇲🇽🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/h5VcMZiYgS

— Embassy of Mexico in the U.S. (@EmbamexEUA) April 5, 2019

The United States is facing a crisis at its southern border, the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said on March 27, saying his agents are facing “an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis” along the southwest border, with 3,500 illegal immigrants crossing that morning and 1,000 apprehensions in one day on March 25, the vast majority of them people from Central America.

Nationwide, he said, the agency had more than 12,000 illegals in custody.

“The agency considers 4,000 to be a high number of migrants in custody and 6,000 to be at a crisis level,” he said. “More than 12,000 migrants in custody is unprecedented.”

More than 1 million illegal immigrants are expected to enter the United States this year, adding to the more than 30 million who are already here.

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Margaret Menge

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