U.S. and Mexico agree to continue security cooperation, plan February ministerial in Washington

The Security Implementation Group (SIG) is a bilateral U.S.–Mexico working group created in 2025 to “ensure effective security cooperation” and to coordinate concrete joint actions against cartels, fentanyl trafficking, illicit firearms, illicit finance, and related crimes. It is not a single-agency body but a forum that brings together senior officials from multiple U.S. and Mexican security and foreign‑policy agencies.

Participation, based on the first meetings, includes:

• United States: senior officials from at least six agencies, including the State Department (e.g., Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs), Department of Homeland Security (Assistant Secretary for International Affairs), Department of Defense (Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs), the Treasury Department (Deputy Assistant Secretary), and other border and law‑enforcement entities.
• Mexico: members of the Security Cabinet, including the Undersecretary of Intelligence and Investigation, Foreign Ministry’s North America Unit, Executive Secretary of the National Public Security System, head of the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), senior Defense and Navy staff, and a representative of the Attorney General’s Office.

Official statements describe meetings as being “hosted” or “led” jointly by senior officials from both governments; no single permanent chair is publicly identified, and the group functions as a co‑led coordination mechanism rather than a formal organization with its own legal authority.

In this context, a “Security Ministerial” is a high‑level, cabinet‑level meeting between the two governments focused on security cooperation.

The January 15, 2026 joint statement says the Washington, D.C. Security Ministerial will “mark the one‑year anniversary” of the new security cooperation chapter and will be a “high-level meeting” to “assess progress, identify gaps, and set clear expectations for further collaboration,” but it does not list participants or formal powers.

Based on how similar U.S.–Mexico security meetings are structured (such as the 2021 High‑Level Security Dialogue under the Bicentennial Framework), attendees typically include:

• From the U.S.: the Secretary of State and senior officials from DHS, Justice, Defense, and other security agencies.
• From Mexico: the Foreign Secretary and senior security‑cabinet officials (e.g., security minister, defense and navy leadership, intelligence and law‑enforcement heads).

These ministerials are political and strategic coordination forums. They can agree on joint priorities, task working groups like the SIG, and announce initiatives, but any binding changes to funding, laws, or deployments must still be made through each country’s normal domestic legal and budget processes. The specific attendance list and any decision‑making rules for the February 2026 Security Ministerial have not yet been published.

Public statements about the SIG and related U.S.–Mexico security cooperation identify several specific measures already being used or expanded to stop illicit fentanyl and weapons flows, even though the January 23 agenda itself has not been published. Key measures include:

1. Targeting fentanyl production and finances

• The SIG is “pursuing decisive action against financial institutions and individuals” involved in manufacturing, distributing, and selling fentanyl and precursor chemicals, and aims to dismantle designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (cartels) and disrupt their revenue streams.
• Under the broader Bicentennial Framework, both countries committed to dismantling narcotics production, regulating precursors, and disrupting trafficking networks.

2. Firearms trafficking controls (“Mission Firewall”)

• At the first SIG meeting, the two governments launched “Mission Firewall: United Against Firearms Trafficking,” whose goals include:
  • Expanding Mexico’s use of the U.S. eTrace system and ballistic identification technology to all 32 Mexican states.
  • Increasing border operations and U.S. inspections to stop southbound weapons.
  • Strengthening information‑sharing, joint investigations, and prosecutions on gun‑running cases.

3. Border and technology measures

• The SIG is working to enhance intelligence sharing, link analytical platforms, and “pre‑empt and respond to drone attacks at the border,” and to deepen cooperation on extraditions, asset forfeiture, and fuel‑theft investigations—all aimed at weakening cartels’ operational capacity.

Taken together, these point to a mix of financial sanctions and investigations, joint law‑enforcement operations, expanded tracing and forensics for firearms, and improved border‑security technology and intelligence sharing; no detailed public list yet describes every operational step planned for January 23.

The January 15, 2026 joint statement refers generally to “bilateral initiatives to promote information-sharing,” but other official documents around the SIG and the Bicentennial Framework spell out the types of information and the constraints:

1. Types of information‑sharing already underway

• Firearms and ballistics data: Mission Firewall aims to expand Mexico’s use of ATF’s eTrace system and ballistic imaging across all 32 states, so Mexican and U.S. authorities can match seized weapons to purchases and crime scenes in both countries.
• Customs, cargo, and parcel data: Both governments agreed to share cargo manifest information and strengthen oversight of land, air, maritime ports, and cross‑border parcels and e‑commerce, to spot suspicious shipments (including precursors, drugs, and weapons).
• Intelligence and analytical platforms: The SIG has committed to “enhancing intelligence sharing and linking analytical platforms,” for example to detect and respond to cartel use of drones at the border.
• Financial intelligence: A bilateral working group is being created to share information on illicit finance, cooperate on civil asset forfeiture, and cut off funding for transnational criminal organizations.

2. Handling privacy and sovereignty concerns

• Official texts repeatedly stress “full respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity,” “shared responsibility,” and acting “under each country’s legal framework.” This means that shared data should be governed by each side’s domestic laws on privacy, data protection, and law‑enforcement cooperation, and Mexico has explicitly framed cooperation as “without subordination.”
• Under the Bicentennial Framework, cooperation areas such as customs integration, biometrics, and information systems are to be implemented through existing legal and regulatory frameworks in both countries, rather than granting foreign agencies direct operational control.

No detailed public protocol has been released that spells out data‑protection safeguards for these specific initiatives, but all official descriptions tie information‑sharing to existing national laws and to respect for sovereignty.

The joint statement for this January 23 SIG meeting and the February Security Ministerial says those gatherings will “assess progress, identify gaps, and set clear expectations,” but it does not specify exactly how results will be measured or reported.

Available documents suggest the following:

• Under the Bicentennial Framework Action Plan, the two governments agreed to “evaluate and communicate the impact of our cooperation to the American and Mexican people,” implying some form of periodic public reporting on outcomes (such as seizures, investigations, prosecutions, and violence or overdose trends).
• Past SIG meetings have produced public readouts from the U.S. State Department and Mexico’s Foreign Ministry summarizing agreed priorities and actions (for example, announcing Mission Firewall and describing work on fentanyl finances, drone threats, extraditions, and asset forfeiture).

However, there is no publicly announced, detailed results framework (with specific indicators, baselines, or timelines) for the January 23, 2026 SIG meeting or the February 2026 Security Ministerial, and no commitment yet to a joint written report beyond standard press releases or media notes.

The January 15, 2026 joint statement does not announce new funding, troop deployments, or specific changes to border operations tied directly to this latest phase of cooperation.

Context from related documents shows:

• The SIG is described as a coordination and implementation body; its first meetings focused on launching initiatives like Mission Firewall and improving investigations, intelligence sharing, and inspections, rather than on announcing new budget lines or large deployments.
• U.S. foreign‑assistance funding for security cooperation with Mexico continues to be set through regular appropriations (for example, International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement and Economic Support Fund accounts), and recent CRS analysis notes that Congress has directed some of this funding to counter fentanyl and synthetic drugs but has not created a SIG‑specific funding stream.

Given current public information, any additional funding, deployments, or operational changes that may be discussed within the SIG or at the February Security Ministerial have not been formally disclosed.