MEXICO CITY (AFP) – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called for “cool heads” in the face of United States (US) President Donald Trump’s announcement of severe new restrictions on migration, among other policy changes.
Sheinbaum said Mexico was preparing to repatriate people from other countries expelled by the US, after Trump vowed to deport “millions and millions” of migrants.
“It’s important to always keep a cool head and refer to signed agreements, beyond actual speeches,” she told her regular morning conference, a day after Trump announced he was sending troops to the border with Mexico to halt illegal migration and again threatened major tariffs on Mexican imports.
On his first day back in office Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border “to repel the disastrous invasion of our country”.
His administration said it would also reinstate a “Remain in Mexico” policy that prevailed under Trump’s first presidency, under which people who apply to enter the US from Mexico must remain there until their application has been decided.
The White House also halted an asylum programme for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Central and South America, leaving thousands of people stranded on the Mexican side of the border.
Sheinbaum said her government would provide humanitarian assistance to deported migrants from other countries before repatriating them. If migrants cannot enter the US, “it is much better for them to return to their country of origin,” she said.
Shelters have been set up for migrants in border cities such as Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana and Nuevo Laredo. But “there is not enough space” and the situation could become “critical,” warned the mayor of Reynosa Carlos Pena a city just south of Texas.
