Binational leaders met to discuss border trade and immigration

SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico (KVIA) -- U.S. Representative for New Mexico's 2nd District Gabe Vasquez hosted a binational meeting along with Juárez Mayor Cruz Pérez Cuéllar, Sunland Park Mayor Javier Perea, and other local and federal officials.

They met at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino.

The meeting was to discuss current binational trade, economic opportunities, and issues related to immigration, among other topics.

Border communities like Sunland Park and Juárez want to keep working together to have economic development on both sides of the border.

"We want to get some commitments from the government, both the municipal government of Ciudad Juárez and also the state government of Chihuahua. As the US invests in infrastructure on our side of the border, that we will have that infrastructure matched on the Mexican side," said Rep. Vasquez.

"We want to talk about the evolving process of asylum-seeking, legislation, and policy so that we can make sure that as folks come into the border area and that we have systems set up for asylum seekers, that they are both safe, that they are not being preyed on by the cartels, and that folks are being held accountable on both sides of the border, as they make their journey to the United States," Rep. Vasquez added.