Mexico Will Reject Deportees From Other Countries, Official Says
A top Mexican government official is taking a tough stance on potential U.S. policies, saying that the country will not receive deportees from countries other than Mexico and that his country does not need financial aid from the U.S.
Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said in local radio interviews on Friday that he told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly during their visit to Mexico City this week that the country would reject deportees from other countries.
A Homeland Security memo this week suggested immigration officials may deport migrants living in the country illegally to the contiguous country through which they had crossed border, most likely being Mexico. Mexico has in recent years shifted from a source of migrants to a thorough fare for migrants from Central America and elsewhere.
“There is no chance they would be received by Mexico,” Osorio Chong told Formula Radio.
Osorio Chong, in response to President Donald Trump’s recent order for a review of assistance to Mexico, said his country does not need financial aid from the U.S.
The U.S. has given a large proportion of its aid to Mexico through the Merida Initiative, a controversial measure between the two countries to fight drug trafficking. The U.S. Congress allocated $2.6 billion to security assistance to Mexico between 2008 and 2016.
Mexico welcomes U.S. support, though it is not significant, Osorio Chong said.
“We don’t object to them moving these resources,” Osorio Chong told Enfoque Noticias radio. “Mexico now has its own capabilities.”
