While Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila says she still doesn’t know why the U.S. government revoked her non-immigrant visa, she is convinced the matter will be worked out.
“It doesn’t mean I did anything wrong,” she said Monday at a news conference in Tijuana. “It’s an administrative decision, not an accusation. There is no crime, there is no offense. The reason for this action has not been communicated, and whatever it is, I am calm and have a clear conscience that everything will be clarified.”
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The comments come two days after she and her husband announced on their public social media accounts that their visas had been revoked. The governor’s husband, former federal congressman Carlos Torres, first posted Saturday that he had been notified of the revocation by U.S. consular officials.
Later, Ávila followed on her own account, saying she had received “a similar notification.”
Surrounded by members of her cabinet at a state government building Monday, Ávila confirmed that she no longer had a visa to enter the United States. She did not take questions from reporters after her statement.
“I deeply respect the U.S. government’s sovereignty and recognize its administrative authority,” she said. “I trust that the truth and time will set the record straight.”
As governor of a border state, Ávila frequently crosses into the U.S. to work with public officials in San Diego.
Two weeks ago, Ávila was in San Diego County to attend the kickoff event for the Tianguis Turístico, Mexico’s largest tourism convention, at Liberty Station.
Last week, she met with the U.S. consul general in Tijuana, Christopher Teal, where they discussed collaboration on such issues as security, economic development and human rights, according to a post on Ávila’s Facebook account.
The U.S. State Department press office said in a statement Monday that “visa records are confidential under U.S. law; therefore, we cannot comment on individual cases.”
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday during her daily news conference that she was unaware of the motives behind the visa revocations but that she would ask the U.S. government about it.
“We are going to wait … before issuing any communication,” she said. “We are going to wait for information as to why these visas were withdrawn.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reiterated recently that a “visa is a privilege, not a right.”
On his social media post, Torres said that he believed his visa termination was in response to “internal directives of the State Department” and stressed that “my conscience is clear.”
He also said that the situation does not imply “any accusation, investigation or formal charges by any authority, neither in Mexico nor in the United States.”
Torres was appointed last year to head the coordination of strategic projects for the city of Tijuana, a position he holds on an honorary basis, according to an October city news release.
Both Torres and Ávila are members of Mexico’s ruling Morena party. Ávila is also the president of the National Conference of Governors, or Conago.
On Sunday, the seven mayors of Baja California, all from the Morena party, as well as the party’s state executive committee, publicly backed Ávila.
The party’s state leadership called the situation “a purely administrative procedure,” adding that the reasons behind it “are not always made public and should not be used to tarnish careers built with effort and popular legitimacy.”
Mexico’s opposition party, the Partido Acción Nacional, or PAN, called on the governor to explain the situation to the public. In a statement on the social media platform X, the party said, “It is extremely serious that the governor of a border state has restrictions on entry into the United States.”
Ávila responded Monday: “I’m not defined by what I have, or what permits I’m given or taken away. I’m defined by my values.”
Torres said he has reached out to a specialist in international immigration law to evaluate filing a motion to reopen or reconsider the decision, or to start a new visa application. He added that he was sorry the situation brought consequences for his wife.
