The Mexican government claims it is holding back 250,000 migrants in the midst of tariff threats from President Trump.
Breitbart reports that a statement from Mexico’s Foreign Relations Secretariat claims the country was providing humanitarian visas to migrants and strengthening immigration enforcement in southern Mexico.
“Without these important Mexican efforts in immigration matters, the U.S. would receive 250,000 additional migrants, only in 2019,” claims the statement.
“The veiled threat was buried at in the middle of a document where Mexican officials claimed to have deported more than 80,000 migrants and arrested 400 suspected smugglers in conjunction with U.S. officials,” writes Breitbart.
The publication points out Mexico has been far from helpful in apprehending migrants traveling through the country towards the U.S.
In recent months, Mexico has provided buses and security for thousands of migrants traveling to the U.S. border–and in February, the state of Coahuila moved nearly 2,000 migrants in 49 buses to Piedras Negras, where the migrants were expected to cross the border into Texas and claim asylum.
Last week, President Trump announced that he would impose a 5 percent tariff on Mexico until the nation works to fix the illegal immigration surge at the U.S. border.
In a statement, the President said if Mexico does not take action to “dramatically reduce or eliminate” the number of illegal aliens entering the U.S., the tariffs would increase to 15 percent on August 1, 2019. From there, they will go up to 20 percent by September 1 and 25 percent by October 1.
“Gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illegal drugs and narcotics of all kinds are pouring across the Southern Border and directly into our communities. Thousands of innocent lives are taken every year as a result of this lawless chaos. It must end NOW!” said the President.
