US unwinds Trump policy making asylum-seekers wait in Mexico

02/19/2021

Source: PBS

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Biden administration moved to restore the asylum system to the way it worked for decades Friday by releasing a group of asylum-seekers into the United States, ending their long wait in Mexico and unraveling one of former President Donald Trump’s signature immigration policies.

The 25 people who arrived are the first of an estimated 25,000 asylum-seekers with active cases in the “Remain in Mexico” program who will now wait in the U.S. for their court hearings instead of south of the border. Wary of a surge of migrants, American officials are warning people not to come to the border and to register on a website that the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees launched Friday.

READ MORE

Facebook Ban on Trump Is ‘Holy Inquisition,’ Mexico’s AMLO Says

01/08/2021

Source: Bloomberg

The move by Internet giants Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. to suspend President Donald Trump’s access to social media accounts is a “bad omen,” according to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Having private companies decide who can be silenced and censored goes against freedom of speech, Lopez Obrador said on Friday during his daily press briefing.

READ MORE

Over 1,300 asylum-seekers assaulted in Mexico while remaining there under Trump administration policy, new report says

12/16/2020

Source: Business Insider

More than 1,300 people have been raped, kidnapped, or otherwise assaulted since February 2019, when the Trump administration began requiring asylum-seekers to wait out their claims in Mexico, according to a new report.

“Continuing to turn away and expel people seeking US refugee protection at the southern border is both a humanitarian disgrace and a legal travesty,” Kennji Kizuka, a researcher at Human Rights First, which put out the study, said Wednesday. “The Trump administration is flouting US laws and treaty obligations to protect refugees, and weaponizing the pandemic to block and expel people seeking safety in the United States.”

READ MORE

Trump or Biden? Mexico eyes who could boost struggling economy

10/28/2020

Source: Al Jazeera

Mexico City, Mexico – Five years ago, Donald Trump kicked off his first presidential campaign by saying that Mexico was sending crime, drugs and rapists to the United States. He thrust the US’s southern neighbour into the electoral spotlight and kept it there, making his infamous promise to build a border wall paid for by Mexico a cornerstone of his campaign.

Outrage roiled in Mexico then: pinata stores routinely stocked a Trump model so that Mexicans could buy it and give it a beating. There were comedy plays railing against him, an anti-Trump video game created by Mexican designers and even an ass dressed as Donald for the country’s annual donkey festival. All of that counted for nothing, because candidate Trump became President Trump and continued a fractious relationship with Mexico’s then-President Enrique Pena Nieto.

READ MORE

Mexican president vows to pay US water debt, thanks Trump

09/17/2020

Source: AP

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president vowed Thursday to repay the country’s water debt to the United States, even if it means asking farmers in Mexican states along the U.S. border to pitch in.

Time is running out for Mexico to pay the debt by the Oct. 24 deadline, especially after protesters seized a dam in Chihuahua state to stop water transfers.

READ MORE

Former U.S. Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne reflects on AMLO’s meeting with Trump and Latin America

09/04/2020

Source: Al Día

Earl Anthony Wayne was attracted to the foreign service from a young age when he became fascinated with other countries, particularly how their culture and history was different from his own.

He began to ponder the tough questions, like how countries fall into certain styles of government. What steps led to the adoption of a democracy, communism or a dictatorship?

The California native took his desire to learn about all the corners of the world and how they can work together to his years in higher education.

READ MORE

US, Mexico Widen Asylum Crackdown to Push Back All Migrants

8/28/19 – AP News

By María Verza and Nomaan Merchant

A Trump administration program forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico has evolved into a sweeping rejection of all forms of migrants, with both countries quietly working to keep people out of the U.S. despite threats to the migrants’ safety.

The results serve the goals of both governments, which have targeted unauthorized migration at the behest of President Donald Trump, who threatened Mexico with potentially crippling tariffs earlier this year to force action.

Read more…

 

Confusion, fear spread on Mexico border with new US policy

7/17/19 – AP News

By María Verza

Asylum-seekers gathered in Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Texas, grappled to understand what a new U.S. policy that all but eliminates refugee claims by Central Americans and many others meant for their bids to find a better life in America amid a chaos of rumors, confusion and fear.

The policy went into effect Tuesday and represents the most forceful attempt to date by President Donald Trump to slash the number of people seeking asylum in the United States. It denies asylum to anyone who shows up on the U.S. border after traveling through another country, something Central American migrants have to do.

Read more…

How Mexico Beefs Up Immigration Enforcement To Meet Trump’s Terms

7/13/19 – NPR

By James Fredrick

Under pressure from President Trump’s tariffs threat, Mexico reached a deal with the United States on June 7 to step up immigration enforcement and to take in more migrants waiting for their U.S. asylum hearings.

The agreement reads: “Given the dramatic increase in migrants moving from Central America through Mexico to the United States, both countries recognize the vital importance of rapidly resolving the humanitarian emergency and security situation. The Governments of the United States and Mexico will work together to immediately implement a durable solution.”

Read more…

Mexico’s Crackdown at Its Southern Border, Prompted by Trump, Scares Migrants From Crossing

6/24/19 – New York Times

By Maya Averbuch and Kirk Semple

The Aguilar family had been preparing since February to migrate north. They borrowed $2,600, made a down payment to a smuggler and set off from their home in northern Guatemala last week.

But at Guatemala’s border with Mexico, their smuggler had some bad news: Crossing into Mexico was too risky. A June 7 deal between the Mexican authorities and the United States to reduce migration had brought extra security forces to the border.

Read more…