Kelly: ‘No mass deportations’
Looking to reassure Mexican officials, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Trump’s deportation efforts would not be ‘large-scale’ or use the military.
MEXICO CITY — Two of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet secretaries and their Mexican counterparts emphasized cooperation and friendship after meeting in Mexico — but their public remarks seemed unlikely to quell profound tensions between the two countries or clear up confusion over the plans of the Trump administration.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Secretary John F. Kelly said Thursday at a news conference that there would be no largescale deportations from the United States or use of military force along the border — comments aimed at allaying Mexican fears about the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown.
“There will be no — repeat, no — mass deportations,” Kelly said at the Mexican Foreign Ministry. “There will be no use of military force in immigration.”
Earlier in the day, Trump had lauded Kelly’s efforts along the border and had labeled ongoing operations there as a “military operation.”
Kelly appeared at the news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, along with Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong.
The two U.S. officials were here on a two-day trip meant in part to repair relations with Mexico at a time when many Mexicans view the Trump administration as hostile to them.
The White House and Mexican officials have clashed on a number of issues, including Trump’s vow to build a wall along the border and his pledges to step up deportations and impose a new tax on goods imported from Mexico.
“In our meetings, we jointly acknowledged that, in a relationship filled with vibrant colors, two strong sovereign countries from time to time will have differences,” Tillerson said. “We listened closely and carefully to each other as we respectfully and patiently raised our respective concerns.”
The U.S. Cabinet secretaries were expected to meet later with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
In his comments, Videgaray emphasized that it was a “legal impossibility” for Mexico to accept “unilateral” decisions imposed by another government. That was an apparent reference to a Trump administration proposal to send undocumented Central Americans detained along the U.S.-Mexico border back to Mexico — even though they are not Mexican citizens.
The top Mexican diplomat expressed the nation’s “worry” for the rights of Mexican nationals in the United States as the Trump administration embarks on an a wide-ranging crackdown on illegal immigrants. He also referred directly to the “negative feelings that without doubt are prevalent” between the two neighbors with deep economic, social, political and cultural ties.
“It will be a long road to construct agreements with the United States, but today we have taken a step in the right direction,” Videgaray said. “The differences between Mexico and the United States remain and we will have to work to arrive at agreements that will be in the interest of Mexico and Mexicans.”