• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Friday, May 20, 2022
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home National

Mexico Scrambles to Slow Migrants as Trump Tariffs Loom

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
06/07/19
in National
US President Donald Trump was to visit the Texas community of McAllen and meet with local border patrol agents during his trip to the US-Mexico border

Donald Trump during his trip to the US-Mexico border to promote his controversial border wall project. Photo: Brendan Smialowski, AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Mexico scrambled Thursday to slow the flow of Central American migrants to the United States as talks continued in Washington to head off President Donald Trump’s threat of potentially catastrophic tariffs on Mexican goods.

Mexico City was deploying 6,000 National Guard troops to its southern border with Guatemala, blocked hundreds of migrants in a new caravan and froze the bank accounts of suspected human traffickers in hopes of appeasing Washington’s demands.

But in the U.S. capital, negotiators holding a second day of talks were still trying to find agreement on issues including asylum application procedures and financial aid to the Central American countries that are the source of most of the migrants.

“We have been working this afternoon, we still do not have an agreement,” Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said as talks wrapped for the day. “Tomorrow we have another session in the morning and we will continue forward.”

With migrant apprehensions at the border with Mexico soaring to 144,000 in May, the highest number in 13 years, the Trump administration has threatened to hit all imports from Mexico with a five percent tariff starting Monday, a move that could savage the export-dependent Mexican economy.

Trump made the threat last week, saying that the tariffs would rise by five percentage points each month to a high of 25 percent if the southern U.S. neighbor fails to halt the northward flow of migrants.

"Trump will make the decision whether or not the actions that Mexico is prepared to take are sufficient to consider changing course," Pence said after today's negotiations with Mexican delegates.

"But at this point, the tariffs are going to be imposed on Monday" pic.twitter.com/r76nUo5sgp

— POLITICO (@politico) June 6, 2019

In an interview that aired late Thursday with Fox News from France where he is attending D-Day commemorations, Trump defended his tariff plan as “a beautiful thing” and complained about “this onslaught, this invasion” of undocumented migrants.

“That’s really an invasion without guns,” Trump told interviewer Laura Ingraham.

The president hesitated when Ingraham pointed out that Mexico was an important U.S. trade ally.

“How do you define ally?” he asked, then talked about violence and drugs coming into the United States from Mexico.

“They shouldn’t be allowing people to come through their country from Central (America), from Honduras and Guatemala, (and) El Salvador,” he said.

Trump was unconcerned that pushback in Congress over the tariffs could sink his new North America trade deal, the USMCA, which needs legislative approval. “I’m not worried about it because they need us, we don’t need them,” he said.


No Deal Yet 

Ebrard declined to comment on whether the talks at the State Department revisited the so-called “safe third-country” option proposed by the U.S., which aims at having Central American migrants fleeing chronic poverty and violence apply for asylum from Mexico rather than in the United States.

Ebrard rejected the idea earlier in the week, but the White House declared it one of its principal demands.

The Washington Post reported that a potential deal to avoid the tariffs would allow the U.S. to deport asylum seekers from Honduras and El Salvador to Guatemala, which they pass through to get to Mexico and then the United States.

Ebrard’s spokesman Robert Velasco Alvarez said Thursday that there was no deal as the two sides were far apart, but that talks continue.

“The U.S. position is focused on migrant control measures, ours is on development,” he said, referring to Mexico’s support of a broader effort to support the economies of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

At Mexico’s southern border Thursday, there were visible efforts to slow the migrants and hinder their supporters.

In the southern state of Chiapas, AFP journalists reported an increased police and military presence on roads typically used by migrants heading north. Ebrard confirmed that 6,000 National Guardsmen would be deployed to the border.

Mexico City froze the bank accounts of 26 suspected human traffickers allegedly responsible for organizing U.S.-bound migrant caravans.

Two activists from People Without Borders (Pueblo Sin Fronteras), which has helped organize migrant caravans, were arrested on allegations of offering migrants money to enter Mexico illegally.

Mexican authorities also blocked 420 migrants in a new caravan, although the group was initially about 1,200-strong, with many suspected of running away before immigration officials stepped in.


Asylum Not The Problem 

Meanwhile, Carla Provost, the head of the U.S. Border Patrol, downplayed the issue of asylum, saying migrants simply understand that, due to U.S. laws, if they arrive with children, they will likely be released into the United States.

She noted that since October, 230,000 children without legal travel documents have crossed the border into the U.S., most with families but also tens of thousands unaccompanied by adults.

“The issue is they don’t even have to claim asylum, they know that,” Provost told CNN.

“They are telling us they are told by smugglers, they are hearing announcements in their own country, that if they come right now and bring a child, they will be released,” she said.

“That is a true statement, because we cannot hold them longer than 20 days if they have a child.”


More on the Subject 

US Judge Blocks Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ Asylum Policy

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Mexico missing people
World

Over 100,000 People Reported Missing in Mexico, Data Reveals

by Staff Writer
May 17, 2022
A man holding a gun
Featured

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

by Stephen J. Lyons
May 2, 2022
Debanhi Escobar
World

Student’s Death Stokes Anger Over Mexican Femicide Crisis

by Staff Writer
April 29, 2022
US Capitol riot
National

Trump ‘More Likely Than Not’ Obstructed Congress: US Judge

by Staff Writer
March 28, 2022
Poland border wall
Refugees

Poland Begins Work on New EU-Belarus Border Wall

by Staff Writer
January 25, 2022
migrants
Refugees

Hundreds of Rescued Migrants Disembark in Italy’s Sicily

by Staff Writer
December 29, 2021
Next Post
Slain left-wing German politician Walter Luebcke

Germany Slams Hate Posts Towards Murdered Pro-Migrant Official

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and the army.

UN Experts Call for Human Rights Probe of Philippines Drug War

Recommended

Volkswagen logo

German Farmer Sues Volkswagen Over CO2 Emissions

May 20, 2022
Vladimir Putin

Russia Says Economy Grew 3.5 Percent in First Quarter

May 18, 2022
Mexico missing people

Over 100,000 People Reported Missing in Mexico, Data Reveals

May 17, 2022
Shireen Abu Akleh

Jerusalem Archbishop Condemns Israeli Police Raid at Journalist’s Funeral

May 16, 2022
A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
Israel

15 European Nations Urge Israel to Reverse Plans for More Settler Homes

May 13, 2022

Opinion

A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
A man holding a gun

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

May 2, 2022
China Muslim Uyghurs

Unfair Politicization, Corruption, and the Death of Modern Olympism

April 23, 2022
Ukraine war

The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis and the Hierarchies of Western Compassion

April 20, 2022
Chinese leader Xi Jinping

How Wrong ‘How China Can End the War in Ukraine’ Is

April 1, 2022
Ukraine children

The War for Ukraine’s Lives and Minds

March 30, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post