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A Central American migrant wanting to reach the US, carries a US flag on his cap as he remains at a shelter in Tijuana, near the US-Mexico border fence. Photo: AFP

Donald Trump claims US asylum seekers will stay in Mexico, but new government there denies deal

  • Plan known as Remain in Mexico was seen as a way to dissuade thousands of Central American migrants from seeking asylum in the US
  • But Mexico’s future interior minister Olga Sanchez insists ‘there is no agreement of any type’

US President Donald Trump said that migrants at the US-Mexico border would stay in Mexico until their asylum claims were individually approved in US courts, but Mexico’s incoming government denied they had struck any deal.

Mexico’s incoming interior minister said there was “no agreement of any type between the future government of Mexico and the United States”.

Olga Sanchez Cordero, also the top domestic policy official for president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who takes office on December 1, said that the incoming government was in talks with the US but emphasised that they could not make any agreement since they were not yet in government.

Sanchez ruled out that Mexico would be declared a “safe third country” for asylum claimants, following a Washington Post report of a deal with the Trump administration known as “Remain in Mexico”, which quoted her calling it a “short-term solution”.

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The plan, according to the newspaper, foresees migrants staying in Mexico while their asylum claims in the United States were being processed, potentially ending a system Trump decries as “catch and release” that has until now often allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer US soil.

“Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We only will allow those who come into our Country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No “Releasing” into the US,” Trump said in a tweet late on Saturday.

“All will stay in Mexico,” Trump added in second tweet, that also threatened to close the border if necessary.

Jenna Gilbert, managing lawyer for the Los Angeles office of Human Rights First, a legal rights organisation, said Trump’s plan is “outright illegal and I’m sure the administration will once more see itself in court”.

Trump has been trying to block thousands of Central Americans from entering the US and has ordered that immigrants who enter the country illegally from Mexico are ineligible for asylum.

Sanchez, who said the situation of migrant caravans was “very delicate” did not explicitly rule out that Mexico could keep caravan migrants on its soil while their US asylum claims are processed. But she said that plans to assume “safe third country” status were “ruled out”.

If Mexico were to assume “safe third country” status, asylum seekers would be required to claim refugee status in Mexico rather than the US.

A Central American migrant wanting to reach the US plays with a child at a shelter in Tijuana. Photo: AFP

Migration activists have long argued that Mexico does not have the security conditions to offer safe haven for migrants feeling violence in Central America.

The Washington Post article cited Mexican officials and senior members of Lopez Obrador’s transition team and said the deal would break with long-standing asylum rules and mount a new obstacle to Central American migrants attempting to seek refuge in the US from poverty and violence.

Alison Leal Parker, US managing director for Human Rights Watch, a New York-based rights organisation, said the plan was “a pathetic attempt by the United States to shirk responsibility. Central Americans have faced serious harm in Mexico”.

The effect, Parker said, would likely “push people fleeing for (their) lives into riskier attempts to find safety, including using criminal human smugglers who will gain power under this new policy”.

A group of Central American migrants – mostly from Honduras – moving towards the US, line up for food outside a temporary shelter at the US-Mexico border in Tijuana. Photo: AFP

Mexico’s incoming deputy interior minister Zoe Robledo said details of the “Remain in Mexico” scheme were still being worked out.

“What we’re aiming for is that people leaving their countries due to security issues or violence can find a place to stay in Mexico if that is their decision,” Robledo said.

Robledo said the incoming government wanted to find jobs for Central American migrants in sectors that are short-staffed, such as maquila assembly plants.

Lopez Obrador has vowed to try to eliminate the causes of migration by creating more jobs and improving living conditions in Mexico and Central America.

In exchange, he hopes Trump and the Canadian government will agree to help spur economic development in the region.

Outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto has also sought to stem the flow of migrants north by offering jobs to them, and has received backing from the private sector in his efforts.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Deal with Mexico would make asylum seekers wait outside American border
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