Mexico says US recognizes improved improved border security

MEXICO CITY — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged that Mexico has made significant progress on migration enforcement during a Sunday meeting with his Mexican counterpart, according to Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard.

Ebrard said in a statement that due to these advances, Mexico sees no need to negotiate a “safe third country” agreement with Washington that would require migrants to apply for asylum in Mexico rather than in the United States.

The meeting between Pompeo and Ebrard came at the halfway point of a 90-day span during which Mexico has agreed to reduce migration through its territory toward the U.S. border as part of a deal that headed off stiff tariffs on Mexican goods threatened by President Trump.

Since then, Mexico has stepped up immigration enforcement, while the United States has expanded to two more border points a program sending asylum seekers back to Mexico to await the outcome of their claims.

Mexican officials say they have increased migration enforcement along the southern and northern borders, while deporting hundreds of Central Americans each week by plane. Mexico is also allowing applicants for asylum in the U.S. to await their hearings from Mexico.

The foreign ministry also said Ebrard suggested that the U.S. and Mexico work together to recover the assets of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who was sentenced to life in prison last week, and that Ebrard asked for help to stem the flow of weapons trafficked into Mexico from the U.S.

Pompeo arrived Sunday at the ministry in central Mexico City in the morning and left about an hour later without making public comments, though the department released photos and soundless video of the two men shaking hands and talking at a table. The encounter was not...