President Donald Trump says he’s imposing tariffs on all goods from Mexico until the country stops the flow of undocumented migrants from Central America…
President Donald Trump says he’s imposing tariffs on all goods from Mexico until the country stops the flow of undocumented migrants from Central America who cross its territory and enter the United States. Trump tweeted Friday that Mexico „can easily fix this problem. Time for them to finally do what must be done!“ Here’s a look at what Mexico has done so far:
THE PROBLEM
In the first three months of 2019, as many as 300,000 migrants — mostly from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador — crossed through Mexico to reach the United States. Many were families with children, who cannot be detained for long in the United States.
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HOW DID MEXICO’S NEW PRESIDENT LOOK AT IMMIGRATION?
Lopez Obrador took office on Dec. 1, intending to reduce migration by addressing its root causes – joblessness, poverty and violence in such countries as Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. He proposed creating a plan to develop the economies of Central America and southern Mexico, while creating humanitarian and work visas so that Central American migrants could stay in Mexico instead of heading to the U. S.
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DID THAT CAUSE A SPIKE IN MIGRATION?
The biggest drivers of the migrant exodus were in place before López Obrador took office and the first massive caravan of migrants formed last year, months before he took office. The caravans came about after tens of thousands of poor Central Americans decided they were a safer option than paying smugglers. New immigration routes for Cubans, Haitians and people from Africa also had opened up through Central America. López Obrador’s offers of visas may have made it easier or safer to cross Mexico, but probably didn’t play a key role in most people’s decision to leave their home countries.
