President Obama hosted Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto at the White House on Tuesday amidst a continued political crisis in Mexico over the disappearance of 43 students. Peña Nieto praised Obama’s recent executive action on immigration, while President Obama said he backed Mexico’s drug war.

President Obama: “Our commitment is to be a friend and supporter of Mexico in its efforts to eliminate the scourge of violence and the drug cartels that are responsible for so much tragedy inside of Mexico, and we want to be a good partner in that process, recognizing that ultimately it will be up to Mexico and its law enforcement to carry out the key decisions that need to be made.”

Outside of the White House, a group of demonstrators gathered to call on the U.S. to cut funding to Mexico over its failure to investigate and prosecute abuses by state security forces.