WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The White House said on Tuesday that Vice President Mike Pence would attend the inauguration of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Dec.1.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a press briefing that U.S. President Donald Trump had asked Pence to lead a delegation to attend the inauguration.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, and advisor to the president Ivanka Trump are among the delegates, according to Sanders.
Heather Nauert, the State Department spokesperson, said Tuesday "the United States enjoys excellent cooperation with Mexico on a broad range of political security, immigration and also economic issues."
"The U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship is a top priority," said Nauert, "and we look forward to maintaining an open dialogue with the incoming Lopez Obrador administration, focusing on advancing our shared priorities that benefit both of our nations."
Nauert also added that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would meet with Mexican Foreign Secretary-Designate Marcelo Ebrard here on Dec.2.
Trump said last Saturday that migrants seeking asylum in the United States via the southern border would wait in Mexico while their claims move through legal procedures, but the incoming Mexican government denied the two sides had reached any deal.
Caravans of migrants, many of whom say they are fleeing from poverty and violence in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, were making their way through Central America towards the U.S. border for weeks. Many of them want to claim asylum.
Thousands of U.S. troops have been deployed along the country's southern border with Mexico to help strengthen border security while offering only engineering, logistics, and medical support.
However, Trump said earlier that he had given the troops the "OK" to use lethal force against migrants "if they have to."
