'No Agreement of Any Kind': Incoming Mexican Government Denies Cutting Deal With Trump to Keep Asylum Seekers Out of US

Members of a caravan of Central Americans who spent weeks traveling across Mexico walk from Mexico to the U.S. side of the border to ask authorities for asylum on April 29, 2018 in Tijuana, Baja California Norte, Mexico. (Photo: David McNew/Getty Images)

'No Agreement of Any Kind': Incoming Mexican Government Denies Cutting Deal With Trump to Keep Asylum Seekers Out of US

The future Mexican government's insistence that no deal has been reached came as the U.S. president appeared to tout the reported agreement on Twitter

Hours after the Washington Postreported that the Trump White House and the incoming administration of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) cut a deal to keep asylum seekers in Mexico while their claims are processed by the U.S., Mexican government officials on Saturday straightforwardly denied that any such agreement has been reached.

"There is no agreement of any kind between the future federal government of Mexico and the United States of America," future Interior Minister Olga Sanchez told NBC News. "The new government will begin its mandate on December 1."

Jesus Ramirez Cuevas, a spokesperson for AMLO, also denied that the incoming government has reached a deal with the Trump administration.

The future Mexican government's insistence that there is no agreement with the U.S. came as President Donald Trump appeared to address the reported deal on Twitter, writing, "Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court."

"All will stay in Mexico. If for any reason it becomes necessary, we will close our Southern Border," Trump added.

While the precise terms of the plan reported by the Post remain unclear, Alison Parker--the director of U.S. programs at Human Rights Watch--decried the broad scope of the Trump administration's attempted policy change as "a pathetic attempt by the U.S. to shirk responsibility" for providing refuge to those fleeing violence and persecution that has often been sparked by American foreign policy.

"With this new policy, once again the U.S. has started a race to the bottom when it comes to human rights," Parker continued. "This is likely to push people fleeing for their lives into riskier attempts to find safety, including using criminal human smugglers who will gain power under this new policy."

Join Us: News for people demanding a better world


Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place.

We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference.

Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Join with us today!

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.