Blinken and other Biden administration officials met on Oct. 5 to discuss shared security, health and public safety issues at the 2023 U.S.-Mexico High-Level Security Dialogue.
During an Oct. 3 event at the Baker Institute at Rice University in Houston, Texas, Blinken said the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico is "arguably the most important we have in terms of the practical impact."
He added that Mexico is now America's "largest trading partner in the world" as of several weeks ago.
Blinken said that close ties have a positive impact in "many good ways," but he also said that it comes with some challenges, particularly about the importation of illicit drugs and mass illegal immigration to the United States. (Related: Blinken meets with Xi in Beijing as China puts onus on US to stabilize deteriorating relations.)
"We have a mutual responsibility to work together to deal with these challenges. It can't—it's not a one-way street; it's a two-way street," said Blinken.
Many Americans are dying from fentanyl overdose
Amid the current drug crisis in the U.S., both Democrats and Republicans have expressed concerns over the number of Americans dying from fatal overdoses of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can be 50 times more potent than heroin and at least a hundred times more potent than morphine.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that 70,601 people die yearly from fentanyl-related overdoses.
According to Blinken, overdosing via fentanyl has become the leading cause of death for Americans aged between 18 and 49.
The participants at the U.S. and Mexican delegations in Mexico City also discussed what to do about the current influx of illegal immigrants in the United States. On Oct. 4, Blinken was joined by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall and their Mexican counterparts.
Other senior U.S. officials, including Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A. Nichols and Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Todd D. Robinson, participated in the discussions.
Early in October, Mexican top officials defended the country’s counter-narcotic efforts, pointing to significant seizures of fentanyl in recent months.
But despite Blinken's claims that the U.S. and Mexico must work together, Lopez Obrador has often said that American politicians shouldn't use Mexico as a "scapegoat for the record number of overdoses" in America.
Lopez Obrador has also commented that it is the job of American lawmakers to address the "problem of social decay" in the United States.
U.S. still struggling with border crisis
According to figures released in September, Border Patrol has made 181,509 arrests at the Mexican border throughout August.
Those figures have gone up by 37 percent from July but still below the more than 220,000 in December of last year.
On Oct. 2, Lopez Obrador said America could soon see more than 10,000 illegal immigrants per day arrive at its border with Mexico. He warned that many illegal immigrants are reaching Mexico's northern border partly because they have been crossing from Guatemala into Mexico every day for the past week.
According to Blinken, the U.S. is cooperating with Mexico now more than ever, and both countries want to address the mass illegal immigration crisis.
Go to Opioids.news for more updates on how the U.S. is battling drug trafficking in the country.
Watch the video below to learn how migrants have "negatively impacted everything" in the United States.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
DRUG CITY: San Francisco hits grim record of 3 OVERDOSE DEATHS each day due to FENTANYL.
NYC Mayor Adams: Illegal immigration under Biden has become a NATIONAL CRISIS.
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