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Central America could also make pact with US on deportees, Sheinbaum says
USA-TRUMP-MIGRATION-MEXICO:Central America could also make pact with US on deportees, Sheinbaum says
By Kylie Madry
MEXICO CITY -Mexico has received non-Mexican deportees from the United States over the past week and Central American nations could also reach agreements with the U.S. to accept deportees from other countries, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday.
The leftist leader's comments are a reversal from her administration's previous opposition to Mexico receiving migrants from other countries.
Sheinbaum said in her daily morning press conference that Mexico had accepted more than 4,000 deportees, of which a "large majority" were Mexican.
U.S. President Donald Trump took office last week, promising massive deportations of migrants who were in the U.S. illegally.
But in the days since, there has not been a "substantial" increase in deportees received by Mexico, Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum previously said her administration had not agreed to the restart of the "Remain in Mexico" program by the Trump administration, which would send non-Mexican migrants who had crossed the border between the two countries back to Mexico while they awaited processing by the United States.
The U.S. is also in talks with Central American countries on immigration, Sheinbaum said, suggesting they could receive migrants from other nations in the region.
"Some countries' constitutions - Guatemala's, for example - say that any Central American must be accepted by Guatemala," Sheinbaum said. "So they're coordinating with the United States, taking into account each country's sovereignty."
Sheinbaum said that deportations received from the U.S. by Mexico had included people sent on four flights using civil aircraft. Reuters reported on Friday, citing a U.S. and Mexican official, that Mexico had refused a deportation flight operated by the U.S. military.
Such deportation flights have also caused an outcry from Brazil and Colombia in recent days.
Brazil accused the U.S. of "blatant disrespect" of deportees who were handcuffed on a flight, while Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Trump tussled on Sunday, nearly bringing the countries to a full-blown trade war over Petro's refusal to accept U.S. military deportation flights. Petro later agreed to accept the flights.
According to Sheinbaum, who called the agreement between Trump and Petro "good," the Mexican government and U.S. government were constantly in talks on immigration issues and other deals could be reached in coming days.
She said there was a precedent for Mexico receiving non-Mexican migrants from the U.S. Her predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, had agreed to the "Remain in Mexico" program during Trump's first term.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
