Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena travels to Chihuahua and Texas

Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena travels to Chihuahua and Texas

• In Ciudad Juarez, she will visit the Mexican section of the International Boundary and Water Commission.
• In Texas, she will visit the Mexican consulates in El Paso, San Antonio, Eagle Pass and Laredo, where she will meet with community leaders, strategic partners and civil society organizations.

The Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, traveled today to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. From April 17-20, she will also visit Mexico's consulates in El Paso, San Antonio, Eagle Pass and Laredo, and reaffirm our country's commitment to providing timely and dignified consular assistance and protection to all Mexicans in Texas.

In Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Secretary Bárcena will visit the Leona Vicario Migrant Integration Center and meet with Bienestar (Wellbeing) Secretary Ariadna Montiel Reyes to analyze the management and financing of these centers, which provide assistance to migrants in the north of the country.

She will then visit the Mexican section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), where she will meet with Commissioner Adriana Reséndez Maldonado to discuss the commission's activities on the border.

In El Paso, Texas, the foreign secretary will visit the Consulate General of Mexico and meet with strategic partners, civil society organizations and community leaders to explain Mexico's position on SB4.

She will meet with U.S. authorities to address issues such as migration at the border and assisted returns, and with El Paso Country Judge Ricardo Samaniego and Estrella Escobar, Senior Chief of Staff to El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser.

Secretary Bárcena will meet with El Paso business executives to discuss the growing trade relationship between Mexico and Texas, the economic outlook for the region and bilateral trade.

She will visit the El Paso Healing Garden, a national memorial commemorating the victims of the August 3, 2019 mass shooting, and meet with the victims' families.

In addition, the foreign secretary will tour key border points with Border Patrol personnel.

On Friday, April 19, Secretary Bárcena will visit the Consulate General of Mexico in San Antonio and meet with 11 of our consuls in Texas, a group called Texcoco, in addition to holding meetings with community partners and leaders to discuss Mexico's strategy to counter legislation that criminalizes migrants.

On Saturday, April 20 in Eagle Pass, Texas, she will meet with community leaders at the Mexican consulate, in addition to federal and local authorities and Border Patrol representatives.

Lastly, in Laredo, Texas, Secretary Bárcena will visit the Nuevo Laredo III and World Trade International Bridges, where she will hold a meeting on commercial traffic with local authorities, and meetings with Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villarreal Anaya.

Foreign Secretary Bárcena will conclude her travel at the Consulate General of Mexico in Laredo, meeting with the Mexican community to discuss their needs and the current situation of Mexican nationals in the city.

Accompanying Secretary Bárcena Ibarra are: Chief Officer for North America Roberto Velasco Álvarez; Director General for Consular Protection and Strategic Planning Vanessa Calva Ruiz; Director General of Political Affairs for North America Cristina Planter Riebeling; Director General of Coordination and Inter-Institutional Follow-up Luis Mingo Nyssen; Communications Director José Manuel Gutiérrez Minera; and the consuls of Mexico in El Paso, Mauricio Ibarra Ponce de León; San Antonio, Rubén Minutti Zanatta; Eagle Pass, Vívian Juárez Mondragón; and Laredo, Juan Carlos Mendoza Sánchez.