Statement by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Legal Pathways Initiative with Mexico

Following the very productive meetings that took place earlier this week in Mexico between President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and a U.S. Delegation led by White House Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, the United States is taking additional steps to expand access to safe, orderly, legal migration pathways. Today we are announcing our full support for an international multipurpose space that the Government of Mexico plans to establish in southern Mexico to offer new refugee and labor options for the most vulnerable people who are currently in Mexico. We also commit to accept refugee resettlement referrals from qualified individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who are already in Mexico.

This builds on a series of successful legal pathways initiatives that President Biden and President Lopez Obrador have agreed to launch during the last year. The expanded cooperation between the United States and Mexico to manage our shared border in a humane and orderly way is a testament to strong and enduring bonds of friendship and partnership between our two countries.

President Biden has significantly expanded legal pathways to the United States, in line with the goals of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection. We encourage migrants to use these legal pathways instead of putting their lives in the hands of dangerous smugglers and traffickers. Pursuant to our laws, those seeking to enter the United States unlawfully will continue to face strong consequences, including removal, possible criminal prosecution, and a bar on reentry.