56% Drop in Migrant's at US/Mexico Border, Mex. Hopes to Avoid Trump's Tariffs
....However, if for any reason Mexico stops apprehending and bringing the illegals back to where they came from, the U.S. will be forced to Tariff at 25% all cars made in Mexico and shipped over the Border to us. If that doesn’t work, which it will, I will close the Border.......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 5, 2019
Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, citing data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the number of migrants apprehended at the frontier in August was 63,989 in August, down from 146,266 in May. Those numbers included people who presented themselves at U.S. ports of entry and were deemed inadmissible. More data here
The Mexican government has deployed more than 20,000 police officers and National Guard troops across the country as part of an aggressive campaign meant to deter Central American migrants from passing through its territory en route to the United States. Ebrard said there had been seven formal complaints of human rights violations involving the National Guard, a relatively low number which he saw as another sign of success.
The U.S. and Mexico agreed in June to a 90-day window to allow Mexico to reduce the flow of migrants from Central America to the U.S. The agreement averted plans by Trump to impose a five percent tariff on Mexican goods in the U.S. that would have increased every month until it hit 25 percent.
Ebrard, is scheduled to meet with U.S. officials at the White House Tuesday to review the Mexican government's progress."We're showing that the strategy that Mexico put forward has been successful," Ebrard told reporters. "I don't expect a tariff threat Tuesday because it wouldn't make sense."
While drops in migration are typical during the summer months, officials denied any link between the drops in migration and seasonal trends.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office Dec. 1, has embraced the fight against migrant smuggling.“All of these people who traffic with migrants’ needs for jobs, safety, and welfare, they are committing a crime and they will be punished,” López Obrador said last week. “We are already doing this in Mexico, without violating human rights. We are ensuring there isn’t anarchy, disorder.”
Ebrard also repeated on Sept. 6 that Mexico refuses to become the safe “third country” as proposed by Trump. The proposal would require people seeking asylum in the United States to apply for refuge in Mexico instead.
“In 22 years of patrolling our Southern Border, I have never seen Mexico act like a true Border Security Partner until President Trump got involved, and now they are stepping up to the plate and doing what they need to do.” Brandon Judd, National Border Patrol
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2019