Young Migrants a Humanitarian Issue, California Governor Says in Mexico

Brown and Mexican Foreign Secretary Jose Antonio Meade expressed their mutual interest in working in favor of the migrants during a joint press conference.

The California governor is on a three-day visit to Mexico to strengthen cooperation in trade and the environment, as well as to push for academic exchanges.

Brown, who governs a state where there are some 11 million people of Mexican descent, acknowledged that child migration is a difficult challenge that cannot be “completely depoliticized.”

“My goal is to try as much as I can to frame the issue of the children as a humanitarian challenge,” he said.

Meade said that the absence of immigration reform in the United States leaves millions of people in limbo with their status undefined and added that child migration cannot be resolved with force.

“The immigration phenomenon is a global and complex problem that must be dealt with on the principle of joint responsibility, emphasizing the humanitarian aspect. When it’s about children, the presence of military force will never be justified,” he said.

Meade expressed his concern over the recent announcement by Texas authorities regarding the deployment of 1,000 National Guard troops along the Mexican border, in particular since the aim of the measure has not been explained.

“I hesitate to comment on the thinking that goes into the sending of the Texas National Guard to the border,” Brown said in response to a question about the planned deployment.

“I would suspect that it would be of relatively short duration and that wiser minds will prevail in the next several months,” the California governor said.