US signed ‘another very important part’ of immigration deal with Mexico – Trump

Source: RT

June 10, 2019 at 13:56

Migrants in front of the US-Mexican border in Tijuana, Mexico. November 2018. © Reuters / Kim Kyung-Hoon

US President Donald Trump has announced signing an “important” part of an agreement on immigration with Mexico. The news comes a week into the neighbors’ row over tariffs and border security.

Washington has “fully signed and documented another very important part” of the immigration deal with Mexico, Trump tweeted on Monday. He added that the details of the agreement will be revealed sometime soon, and it will have to be approved by Mexican lawmakers. The president said that he doesn’t expect the latter to be “a problem” but would reinstate tariffs if necessary.

....We do not anticipate a problem with the vote but, if for any reason the approval is not forthcoming, Tariffs will be reinstated!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2019

Last week, the nations signed a last-minute deal to avert the implementation of the tariffs Trump slapped on all Mexican goods. The president earlier argued that the tariffs were to remain in place until the nation’s southern neighbor curbs the flow of migrants, mainly coming from Central America through Mexican territory.

According to the deal, Mexico agreed to deploy 6,000 National Guard troops along its border with Guatemala. President Trump also claimed that Mexico will “immediately” start buying more US-made farm products.

Commenting on his remarks, the Mexican envoy to the US, Martha Barcena Coqui, explained that the trade between the states would have increased even without the threat of tariffs.

More than 132,000 migrants were apprehended at the US-Mexico border in May, which is roughly a 33 percent increase since April and the highest monthly total in 13 years.

Overall, nearly 396,600 people were apprehended in the US after illegally crossing the border during the fiscal year of 2018, the nation’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said.

Tens of thousands of people remain near the ports of entry. Many have arrived from the Central American nations of El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras, seeking asylum from criminal gangs, police brutality, and domestic abuse at home.

President Trump has long been accusing Mexico of “sending” illegal migrants across the border and vowed to build a border wall that Mexico “will pay for.”