U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation: From the Mérida Initiative to the Bicentennial Framework [Updated April 7, 2022]   [open pdf - 595KB]

From the Document: "In recent years, escalating violence in Mexico and drug overdose deaths in the United States have led Congress to question the efficacy of U.S.-Mexican security cooperation. Homicides in Mexico reached record levels from 2016 to 2019, followed by a slight decline during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Since 2019, Mexico has replaced China as the primary U.S. supplier of synthetic opioids, which cause a majority of U.S. drug overdoses. As Congress deliberates on the future of U.S.-Mexican security cooperation, it may reevaluate the Mérida Initiative, including implementation of security and rule-of-law initiatives supported by $3.5 billion in congressional appropriations. It also may assess the Biden Administration's FY2023 budget request to support the new U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Heath, and Safe Communities."