Mexico is our third largest trading partner in goods with a two-way flow of more than a billion dollars a day.  That represents a lot of mutually beneficial relationships with our southern neighbor. 

We have had friendly relations with Mexico for more than a century, and the government is without doubt a friend of the US.

Mexico's social problems are well-known and longstanding.  The distribution of wealth and incomes there is more skewed than the US, so the effects of poverty are widespread.

There is no doubt that Mexico's social ills are a problem for US communities near the border.  In particular, the US market for illegal drugs exposes us to the worst elements of Mexican society.

We do need to work with our friendly neighbor to improve relations.  For that effort to succeed we need to show them respect.  Hopefully, Trump can work diplomatically with the Mexican government and stop making unilateral demands on social media, as he apparently agreed on the phone yesterday.