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MEXICO CITY, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Mexico-U.S. ties are going through a difficult period, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said on Thursday, adding both sides are willing to jointly work to narrow gaps.
Coming to an agreement over current divisive issues, such as deportations of undocumented immigrants, a border wall, and a possible tax on Mexican imports, "is a lengthy process, it is not simple," Videgeray said at a joint press conference with visiting U.S. officials.
Both countries are willing to work to resolve their differences through dialogue, Videgaray said. "Even though we have differences, we also need to continue to work together."
Videgaray was accompanied by Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, following their working meeting at the headquarters of the Mexican Foreign Ministry.
Unilateral decisions by Washington regarding the border between the two countries as well as bilateral trade have irked Mexican officials since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January.
While Videgaray was visiting Washington heading a Mexican delegation, Trump signed an executive order on the immediate construction of a wall on the southern border. Trump's remarks that asked Mexico to pay for the wall led to the cancellation of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's visit to the United States.
"We spoke of the legal impossibility of a government making decisions that affect another, and that is a basic principle," stressed Videgaray.
In a few months, the two countries are set to renegotiate the two-decade North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Trump has labeled the worst deal in U.S. history and says unfairly benefits Mexico. The U.S. leader said NAFTA puts U.S. workers at a disadvantage and has threatened to tax imports from Mexico.
He said Thursday he was determined to reduce the U.S. trade deficit of 70 billion U.S. dollars with Mexico even at the risk of harming ties.
"We'are going to have a good relationship with Mexico, I hope," Trump said. "And if we don't, we don't."
In terms of immigration, Videgaray vowed not to let the United States impose reforms "unilaterally."
Trump outraged the southern U.S. neighbor by building a wall along the border to keep out immigrants, and branding those from Mexico as rapists and criminals during his presidential campaign.
Tensions have risen since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday issued new orders to step up the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants, many of them Mexicans.
Mexico has indicated it will not accept the Trump administration's new immigration proposals, saying it will go to the United Nations to defend its rights.
"We are not going to accept it because we don't have to," said Videgaray.
Earlier at the White House, Trump described the stepped-up deportation drive as "a military operation."
Addressing immigration concerns, Osorio called on the United States to respect the rights of Mexican migrants residing there, and said deportees should be repatriated in an orderly manner.
Osorio also told reporters that during their working meeting, Mexico said "it disagreed with U.S. immigration measures to send undocumented migrants who are not Mexican" to Mexico.
While Kelly did not address that particular point, he did say the United States is not planning to massively deport migrants without papers to calm Mexican concerns.
"Let me be very very clear, there will be no, repeat no mass deportations," he said.
"The focus of deportations will be on the criminal element that has made it into the United States. All of this will be done in close coordination with the government of Mexico," he added.
Tillerson underscored the existing ties of cooperation over diverse matters, from immigration to trade.
He admitted the bilateral relationship offered both challenges and opportunities, but his first encounter with Mexican officials was "very successful."
