US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Mexico in the coming weeks alongside other cabinet members to solidify cooperation agreements, praising the country's responsiveness on US security concerns, AFP reported. 

The visit will mark Rubio's first trip to Mexico as America's top diplomat, coming as the country faces pressure from US President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign.

"They have been very responsive on our security concerns. They've increased their security cooperation with us in ways that have been very productive," Rubio told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Rubio pointed out mutual interests in combating drug cartels, particularly addressing the flow of US weapons to criminal organisations - a longstanding source of tension between both nations.

"The cartels that operate within Mexico and threaten the state are armed from weapons that are bought in the United States and shipped there. We want to help stop that flow," he explained.

The secretary acknowledged ongoing migration challenges whilst noting Mexican cooperation efforts. "We still have some more work to do on migration, but they've been cooperative," he stated.

“They’ve also been increasingly cooperative, more than ever before, in bringing back and extraditing people wanted [in the US]."

Rubio's planned visit follows his Latin America tour as secretary of state in February, though he bypassed Mexico on his initial diplomatic mission. Instead, Mexico sent a high-ranking delegation to Washington for negotiations just as President Trump's tariff threats turned up the diplomatic heat.

The trip comes amid broader US-Mexico tensions over trade policies, migration enforcement and security cooperation, with Mexico serving as a critical partner in Trump administration border security initiatives.

In a sign of thawing relations, President Claudia Sheinbaum earlier this month described as “historic” a recent statement released by the US government praising what she called a novel “mano dura” (heavy hand) approach to gun smuggling from the US to Mexico.

The timing of Rubio's announcement suggests efforts to cement agreements before potential changes in bilateral dynamics, particularly as both countries navigate complex issues including cartel violence, migration flows, drug trafficking and economic cooperation.