Mexico\u2019s incoming government denied a report on Saturday that it plans to allow asylum-seekers to wait in the country while their claims move through US immigration courts, a deal the Trump administration has been pursuing for months.<\/b>
\nWashington
–
Mexico\u2019s incoming government denied a report on Saturday that it plans to allow asylum-seekers to wait in the country while their claims move through US immigration courts, a deal the Trump administration has been pursuing for months.
Earlier today, it was reported that the US had reached a deal with its southern neighbor for asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims are assessed, The Washington Post reported Saturday, a move cautiously welcomed by some refugees currently at the border.
No formal agreement has been signed, the Post said, but US officials view the deal, a plan called „Remain in Mexico,“ as a move that would see would-be refugees‘ cases heard by US courts in Mexico, as a potential breakthrough in deterring migration.
However, within the last hour, the Associated Press is reporting that \u201cThere is no agreement of any sort between the incoming Mexican government and the U. S. government,\u201d future Interior Minister Olga Sanchez said in a statement.
According to CTV News Canada, the statement said the future government’s principal concern related to the migrants is their well-being while in Mexico. Sanchez said the government does not plan for Mexico to become a „third safe country.“
Donald J. Trump
Sanchez did not explain in the statement why The Washington Post had quoted her as saying there had been an agreement – and the Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Julieta Vences, a congresswoman with Lopez Obrador\u2019s Morena party who is also president of Mexico\u2019s congressional migrant affairs commission, did tell the AP that incoming Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard has been in discussions with U. S. officials on how to handle a deluge of asylum claims at the border, according to The Guardian.
\u201cThey\u2019re going to have to open the borders (for the migrants) to put in the request,\u201d Vences said. \u201cThey will also give us dates, on what terms they will receive the (asylum) requests and in the case that they are not beneficiaries of this status, they will have to return here,\u201d Vences said.<\/p>\n