'Walls or militarising borders' can't solve immigration plight, says Mexican president

Mexico City, Sep 3
The solution to the problem of mass immigration lies in addressing the root causes, not in "walls or militarizing borders," Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said.

The best way to tackle immigration was "supporting the countries of Central America and the Caribbean with poor communities," the president said as he delivered his sixth and last state of the nation address to thousands of citizens gathered at Mexico City's central square on Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Those who abandon their family, their community, do not do it out of pleasure, they do it out of necessity," he said, stressing the need to create jobs in underdeveloped regions to slow immigration.

Lopez Obrador said that while the United States decided on a plan to address immigration, Mexico "must lead by example," and that was why it would continue to promote welfare and development programs in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia, Belize and Cuba.

"We are helping through Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life) and Youth Building the Future programs, and other actions" and "we will continue to do so," he said, referring to two Mexico-led development programs.

Immigration has become a major topic in the US presidential election scheduled to take place on November 5.