Trump and the Mexican president talk about migration

2024-11-28 08:25:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The US president-elect, Donald Trump, said he has managed to stop illegal immigration through Mexico. He made these statements on November 27 after talking with the Mexican leader. But Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, suggested her country is already doing its part and has no interest in closing the borders.

The two leaders spoke days after Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on Canada and Mexico as part of his efforts to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

Trump said Sheinbaum "has agreed to stop migration through Mexico." But Sheinbaum said through social networks that she told Trump that Mexico is already "taking care" of the migrant caravans, adding that she had "a great conversation" with Trump.

"We reiterated that Mexico's position is not to close the borders, but to build bridges between governments and between peoples," Sheinbaum said.

While it's unclear what Mexico's position is on the proposed tariffs, Trump wrote on Social Truth that "this is effectively closing our southern border." He described the conversation with the Mexican president as "very productive". Sheinbaum wrote on social networks that he talked with Trump about "Mexico's strategy regarding the issue of migration and I told him that the caravans are not reaching the northern border [with the US] because Mexico is taking care of them."

"We also talked about cooperation in security issues, within the framework of our sovereignty and within the framework of the campaign we are carrying out to prevent the use of fentanyl," she said.

Illegal migration along the border with Mexico has declined in part because the administration of US President Joe Biden has cooperated with Mexico to strengthen security.

Arrivals at the US-Mexico border are down 40 percent from a record high last December. American officials have estimated that this happened due to increased controls on the Mexican side.

Spurred by growing pressure from the U.S. to block migrants heading north, Mexican authorities in recent years have been rounding up migrants from around the country and sending them south to Mexico, a strategy some experts have seen as an attempt to discourage immigrants from attempting to cross into the US.

Neither side clarified what position has been taken on the issue of the tariffs mentioned by Trump. He said earlier this week that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico, saying it would be one of his first executive orders after taking office on Jan. 20. . He has also proposed a 10 percent tax on China's export of materials used to make fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a dangerous opiate that was designed to treat severe pain experienced by patients, such as those with cancer. But, this substance is mixed with other drugs by traffickers.

Meanwhile, as far as trade is concerned, until September the USA imported goods from Mexico worth 378.9 billion dollars, and 322.2 billion dollars from China and 309.2 billion dollars from Canada./ Rel