The Mexican government is seeking to reach a deal with the incoming Donald Trump administration to avoid taking deportees from third countries, one of the main challenges of the president-elect to implement his crackdown on immigration.
The intention follows reports detailing the Trump team intending to do exactly that, as it tries to figure out what to do with potential deportees from countries unlikely to take them back, Venezuela, Cuba and China among them.
Asked about the reports, Sheinbaum said in her daily press conference that her government hopes to "reach an agreement with the Trump administration so that, in case these deportations happen, they send people from other countries directly to their countries of origin."
Other countries reportedly under consideration were the Bahamas, Panama, Grenada and Turks and Caicos. However, Bahamas and Turks and Caicos already rejected the notion on Thursday. Both issued statements of their own after the report, with the office of Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis saying the country "simply does not have the resources to accommodate such a request." "The prime minister's priorities remain focused on addressing the concerns of the Bahamian people."
The office did acknowledge discussions about the matter but provided no further details. It did say the office received a proposal but that it was "reviewed and firmly rejected by the prime minister." "There has been no further engagement or discussion with the Trump transition team or any other entity regarding this matter," said Davis' office. It added that the position won't change.
Turks and Caicos Minister of Immigration and Border Services Arlington Musgrove, on his end, also rejected the notion, saying that even though the government "remains committed to maintaining strong diplomatic relations with the United States," the government is "steadfast in our commitment to protecting the interests of the Turks and Caicos Islands and upholding the integrity of our immigration system."
The official told the Miami Herald that the British dependency will not allow external policy to dictate its national security, especially considering it's already struggling to address a surge of irregular migration from Haiti.
But even if Mexico doesn't end up taking migrants from third countries, its authorities will still have their plates full. The country is already preventing many migrants from reaching the U.S. southern border under an agreement with the Biden administration, and is also preparing an interagency plan should deportations from Mexicans living without documents in the U.S. increases exponentially.
"We are working to consider all possible scenarios, and there is an interagency plan that the president will announce at the appropriate time. The responsibility and obligation of the Mexican state is, obviously, to the Mexican people. Therefore, they represent the priority," said Secretary of Foreign Affairs Juan Ramón de la Fuente earlier this week.
While details of the plan remain undisclosed, other attendees at the meeting included authorities from the ministries of Defense, Welfare, and Urban Development, as well as the National Migration Institute.
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