Asylum seekers turned away at U.S.-Mexico border sue U.S. government

7/12/2017 Reuters

A group of asylum seekers fleeing gang and drug violence in Honduras and Mexico were improperly turned away at the U.S.-Mexico border by border patrol agents, a lawsuit filed against the U.S. government on Wednesday said.

The lawsuit said some U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have referred to the tough immigration policies of President Donald Trump when turning asylum seekers back. But it also said human rights groups have documented “hundreds” of cases dating back to at least the summer of 2016, before Trump’s election win in November.

Filed by a non-profit legal services group called “Al Otro Lado” along with six unidentified people in U.S. District Court in central California, the class action lawsuit said border agents have used “misrepresentations, threats and intimidation,” to tell asylum seekers they cannot enter the country at various border crossings in California, Arizona and Texas.

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Relations with the U.S. cannot be defined by ‘murmurs’: Mexico president

7/8/2017 Reuters

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Saturday said that the U.S.-Mexico relationship cannot be defined by “murmurs,” the day after U.S. President Donald Trump said Mexico would “absolutely” pay for his proposed southern border wall.

Speaking at the end of his trip to Hamburg for the G20 meeting, Pena Nieto told reporters that the relationship with the United States, Mexico’s top trading partner, should instead focus on more positive ends – a view that he believed Trump also shared.

“Given what happened after this meeting (with Trump), clearly our bilateral relationship cannot be defined by murmurs like those that took place yesterday,” Pena Nieto said.

“Our relationship needs to be based on searching for ways to generate mutual respect, build confidence and work with a positive attitude. I can say that I saw that willingness in President Trump.”

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Ahead of meeting with Peña Nieto, Trump ‘absolutely’ still wants Mexico to pay for border wall

7/7/2017 Washington Post 

President Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto hold a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

HAMBURG — President Trump told reporters on Friday that he “absolutely” still wants Mexico to pay for a border wall in the United States, ahead of a private meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto at the Group of 20 summit.

The comment came after Trump and Peña Nieto gave remarks and as a group of journalists was being escorted out of the room, leaving Peña Nieto no time to respond. He and other Mexican leaders have consistently made clear that their country will not pay for the massive wall that Trump has promised to build along the U.S. southern border.

As reporters left the room, Darlene Superville of the Associated Press asked Trump: “Mr. Trump, do you still want Mexico to pay for the wall?” Trump responded: “Absolutely.”

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Trump hails NAFTA progress, Mexico eyes general deal by end-2017

7/7/2017 Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump hailed progress on trade after meeting his Mexican counterpart on Friday, as Mexico’s government said it expected a general agreement on reworking the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by the end of 2017.

For the first time since becoming president in January, Trump met Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, whose foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, said he expected talks on renegotiating NAFTA to start on Aug. 16., the earliest possible date.

The meeting at the Hamburg leaders’ summit of the Group of 20 economies was keenly anticipated in Mexico, and officials were quick to stress talks had been productive, despite Trump repeating that Mexico would pay for his planned border wall.

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Mexico urged to seek ambitious Nafta upgrade

7/3/2017 Financial Times
Mexico’s government is being urged to push for an ambitious upgrade of the North American Free Trade Agreement ahead of a meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Enrique Peña Nieto at this week’s G20 summit in Hamburg.

Any Nafta 2.0 should position Mexico as the export platform for a North American bloc in which not only manufacturing but also energy, transport and infrastructure are integrated to boost competitiveness with Asia and Europe, said Luis de la Calle, one of the negotiators of the landmark 1994 accord between the US, Mexico and Canada.

“What objectives should we have? A more competitive North America,” he said. “We can’t confine ourselves to a marginal renegotiation.”

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U.S. says it has issued permits for three U.S.-Mexico pipelines

6/29/2017 Reuters

The United States has issued permits for three NuStar Logistics, L.P. (NS.N) pipelines crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, the State Department said in a statement on Thursday.

The permit for the New Burgos Pipeline authorizes construction, operation and maintenance of a new pipeline capable of delivering up to 108,000 barrels per day of refined petroleum products, crossing the U.S.-Mexico border near Peñitas, Texas, the State Department said.

Two other permits were issued for existing pipelines crossing the border near Laredo and Peñitas, Texas to reflect a name change and authorize transport of a broader range of petroleum products, the State Department said.

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Trump Will Allow ‘Dreamers’ to Stay in U.S., Reversing Campaign Promise

6/16/2017 The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Trump has officially reversed his campaign pledge to deport the so-called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as small children.

The Department of Homeland Security announced late Thursday night that it would continue the Obama-era program intended to protect those immigrants from deportation and provide them work permits so they can find legal employment.

A fact sheet posted on the department’s website says immigrants enrolled in the 2012 program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, “will continue to be eligible” to renew every two years and notes that “no work permits will be terminated prior to their current expiration dates.”

Immigration rights activists, who have fiercely battled Mr. Trump’s travel ban and increased enforcement of other immigration laws, hailed the decision.

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