"There has been a 56% reduction in migration [to the United States] between May and August," Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told reporters on Friday (September 6th). President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
"I do not expect [more] tax threats [from Washington]," he added, as he travels to the United States Tuesday to assess Mexico's efforts in the fight against illegal immigration as part of an agreement reached on June 7 between Washington and Mexico City.
Since October 2018, the United States has faced an influx of illegal migrants on its border with Mexico, which has tended to stretch relations between the two countries.
In June, the United States threatened to impose tariffs on products imported from Mexico if the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not put a stop to the arrival of migrants, mostly from poor and violent countries of Central America: Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras in the lead.
Mexico "will not accept to be a safe third country"
The head of the Mexican diplomacy also stressed that his country would not accept to be a "safe third country", with which asylum seekers in the United States must take their first steps. This is one of Washington's main requirements.
"We can not accept it because it goes against the interests of Mexico, which is unfair to our country," said Marcelo Ebrard, who is scheduled to meet with Vice President Mike Pence at the White House. and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Mexico intends to insist, however, on the economic development strategy of Central America to fight immigration. "We want it to be a friendship and cooperation for the development of both countries," said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The Mexican government also recalled that, under pressure, it had deployed more than 25,451 troops between the southern border - where the majority of migrants arrive - and the north, at the border of 3,200 km separating it from the states. -United.
With AFP