On Monday, California Gov. Jerry Brown arrived in Mexico to discuss immigration and other issues.

Brown will be in Mexico for a total of three days, according to The Associated Press. On Monday he held a news conference with Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary José Antonio Meade. Meade said that Brown and he agree that using police or military force against the children outside of medical or logistical assistance "is never justified in cases where children are concerned."

Brown also discussed Texas Gov. Rick Perry's plan to send up to 1,000 National Guard troops to the Texas-Mexico border within the next month.

"I hesitate to comment on the thinking that goes into the sending of the Texas National Guard to the border," Brown said. "I would suspect that it would be of relatively short duration and that wiser minds will prevail in the next several months."

Brown also seconded President Barack Obama's view that the influx of Central American children fleeing their countries and crossing the U.S. border is a "humanitarian crisis."

"My goal is to try as much as I can to frame the issue of the children as a humanitarian challenge," the governor said. "That should appeal to people of all political persuasions."

The conference examined the lack of asylum requests from undocumented Central Americans in Mexico. Less than one in 60 of Mexican migrants found in Mexico in 2013 applied for asylum, AP reported. During the first half of 2014, about one in 50 requested asylum.

"The fundamental goal, in many cases, is [family] reunification," Meade said. "That means the migrant's desire is really not to stay in Mexico. That explains why there are so few [asylum] requests in Mexico."

Brown also got a chance to have a private meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to discuss how to shorten the wait time at the Tijuana-San Diego International bridge. The governor plans to have suggestions for the president when he comes to California next month.

"California is home to the largest Mexican community abroad, and for that reason both sides agreed to increase cooperation to ensure the welfare of that population," Peña Nieto's office said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Brown has meetings regarding energy projects and university exchanges between his state and the neighboring country. He also plans to sign an education agreement, meet with the president of the Senate, the country's energy secretary and others, AP reported. Afterwards, he will meet with over 12 Latin American religious leaders and Los Angeles Catholic Archbishop José Horacio Gómez.
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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