Bloomberg
Donald Trump said Mexico would be “very smart†to stop groups of Central American migrants before they reached the southern US border, and again laid the blame for US immigration problems on Democrats.
The president took to Twitter a day after reports that his administration has struck a deal with Mexico’s incoming government that would mean Washington could use Mexico as, essentially, an ante-room for thousands of asylum seekers seeking to enter the US.
Those people would be required to wait until their claims move through US courts before crossing the border. The Washington Post reported that the US and Mexico’s new government have inked a deal. It’s unclear how many of the details still have to be hashed out.
The potential agreement would break long-standing rules and install new barriers for Central American migrants attempting to reach the US, the newspaper reported, citing Mexican officials and senior members of president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s transition team. It would mark a victory for the hard-line immigration advisers within Trump’s administration.
The plan, to be known as “Remain in Mexico,†would require asylum applicants at the border to stay in Mexico while their cases are processed, potentially ending a system Trump calls “catch and release†that has until now generally allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer US soil, according to the Post.