Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Rex Wayne TillersonGary Cohn: 'I haven't made up my mind' on vote for president in November Kushner says 'Alice in Wonderland' describes Trump presidency: Woodward book Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention MORE is set to underscore U.S. concerns about the mounting crisis in Venezuela on a six-day trip across Latin America next week, the State Department said Friday.

The tour will begin Thursday at the University of Texas at Austin, where Tillerson is expected to deliver a speech outlining the Trump administration's policy priorities in the Western Hemisphere, before leaving the country for Mexico City.

There he's expected to meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray and other Mexican officials.

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The visit comes as President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE prepares to unveil a sweeping immigration framework, which is expected to offer a path to citizenship for nearly 2 million young immigrants in the country illegally, but will also demand tens of billions of dollars for the construction of his long-promised wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

Tillerson will then crisscross South America, making stops in Bariloche and Buenos Aires in Argentina, as well as in Lima, Peru, and Bogotá, Colombia, where he's expected to make a plea for increased regional attention to the crisis in Venezuela.

The trip is set to end in Kingston, Jamaica, the State Department said.

The secretary of State's focus on Venezuela comes on the heels of new U.S. sanctions against four Venezuelan military officials that the Trump administration has deemed corrupt and responsible for political oppression.

Tensions between Washington and Caracas have soared in recent months amid concerns in the West over Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's efforts to consolidate power in the crisis-stricken country.

The administration also imposed new sanctions on Venezuela in July after Maduro called for a vote to rewrite the country's constitution, a move widely seen as an attempt to consolidate power.