Mexico denies striking a deal with Trump over asylum bid
MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s incoming government denied a report that it plans to allow asylum-seekers to wait in the country while their claims move through US immigration courts, one of several options the Donald Trump administration has been pursuing in negotiations for months.
The deal was seen as a way to dissuade thousands of Central American migrants from seeking asylum in the US, a process that can take years.
In effect, Mexican border towns are already acting as waiting rooms for migrants hoping to start new lives in the US due to bottlenecks at the border.
“There is no agreement of any sort between the incoming Mexican government and the US government,” future interior minister Olga Sanchez said.
Hours earlier, The Washington Post quoted her as saying that the incoming administration of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had agreed to allow migrants to stay in Mexico as a “short-term solution” while the US considered their applications for asylum. Lopez Obrador will take office on December 1.
The statement shared with AP said the future government’s principal concern related to the migrants is their well-being while in Mexico.
The Washington Post reported on Saturday that the Trump administration has won support from the Mexican presidentelect’s team for a plan dubbed “Remain in Mexico”.
The newspaper also quoted Sanchez as saying: “For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico.”