President Trump has hailed a deal
reached with Mexico to help stem the flow of migrants to the US after he
threatened to impose trade tariffs.
Under the deal, in which Mexico
agreed to take “unprecedented steps”, the duties that were due to
come into effect on June 10 have been suspended.
Donald Trump said: “Mexico will try very hard, and if they
do that, this will be a very successful agreement.”
There were fears that the tariffs
could hurt US businesses and consumers.
Under President Trump’s proposal,
duties would have risen by 5% every month on goods including cars, beer,
tequila, fruit and vegetables until they hit 25% in October.
The deal was reached at the end of
three days of negotiations which saw Washington demand a crackdown on Central
American migrants.
In a joint declaration released by
the US state department, the two countries said Mexico would take
“unprecedented steps” to curb irregular migration and human
trafficking.
However, it seems the US did not get
one of its reported key demands, which would have required Mexico to take in
asylum seekers heading for the US and process their claims on its own soil.
Under the deal, Mexico agreed to deploy
its National Guard throughout the country from June 10, pledging up to 6,000
additional troops along Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala. It will also take
“decisive action” to tackle human smuggling networks.
The US agreed to expand its program
of sending asylum seekers back to Mexico while they await reviews of their
claims. In return, the US will “work to accelerate” the adjudication
process.
Both countries pledged to
“strengthen bilateral co-operation” over border security, including
“co-ordinated actions” and information sharing.
The declaration added that discussions would continue, and final terms would
be accepted and announced within 90 days.
Should Mexico’s actions “not have the expected results”, the
agreement warned that additional measures could be taken but did not specify
what these would be.
In one of a series of tweets about the deal, President Trump quoted National
Border Patrol Council president Brandon Judd as saying: “That’s going to be a huge deal because Mexico will be using their
strong Immigration Laws – A game changer. People no longer will be released
into the U.S.”
Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard told journalists: “I think it was a fair balance, because
they have more drastic measures and proposals at the start, and we have reached
some middle point.”
Speaking at a separate news conference, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
said “we couldn’t be more pleased with the agreement”.
President Trump caught members of his own party unaware when he announced the proposed tariffs last week.
Republicans and Democrats have
reached an agreement in principle over border security to fund the government
and avoid another partial shutdown.
The deal was struck in a closed-door meeting in Washington on February 11
after several hours of talks.
However, the agreement contains only
a fraction of the money President Donald Trump wants for his promised border
wall and does not mention a concrete barrier.
The deal still needs to be approved
by Congress and signed by the president.
Speaking on February 12, President
Trump said of the deal: “I can’t say
I’m happy, I can’t say I’m thrilled.”
The president told reporters he
would have a meeting about the agreement later today.
The Democrats – who now control the
House of Representatives – have refused to approve the $5.7 billion for
President Trump’s wall on the border with Mexico, one of his key campaign
pledges.
Lawmakers expressed optimism that a bill
would be approved by February 15 when funding runs out for some federal
agencies.
The longest shutdown in US history
lasted 35 days and cost the country’s economy an estimated $11 billion.
Details have yet to be released but
aides familiar with the negotiations say it includes $1.375 billion in funding
for 55 miles of new fencing at the border, a small part of the more than 2,000
miles promised by President Trump.
The wall would be built in the Rio
Grande Valley, in Texas, using existing designs, such as metal slats, instead
of the concrete wall that Donald Trump had demanded.
According to recent reports, there
was also an agreement to reduce the number of beds in detention centers to
40,250 from the current 49,057.
The talks had reached an impasse earlier with Republicans strongly rejecting
Democrats’ demands for a limit to the number of undocumented migrants already
in the US who could be detained by immigration authorities.
Republican Senator Richard Shelby said on February 11: “We got an agreement on all of it.
“Our staffs are going to be
working feverishly to put all the particulars together. We believe that if this
becomes law, it’ll keep open the government.”
However, by yesterday, some of President Trump’s conservative allies had
already denounced the deal, with Fox News commentator Sean Hannity calling it a
“garbage compromise”.
House Freedom Caucus leader Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina said the agreement failed “to address the critical priorities outlined by Border Patrol Chiefs”.
The president initially gave a
positive account of the 90-minute meeting at the White House, describing it as
“very productive”.
However, when asked whether he had
considered using emergency presidential powers to bypass congressional approval
of funding, President Trump said he had.
He said: “I may do it. We can call a national emergency and build it very
quickly. That’s another way of doing it.”
“I’m very proud of doing what I’m
doing,” President Trump added.
“I don’t call it a shutdown, I call it
doing what you have to do for the benefit and safety of our country.”
On January 4, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the meeting had been
“contentious”, while Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: “We told the president we needed the
government open. He resisted.”
Democrats, who now hold the majority in the House, passed spending bills on
January 3 to reopen the government, including $1.3 billion of border security
funds until February 8.
However, the legislation cannot take effect unless it passes the Republican-controlled Senate, where leader Mitch McConnell said his party would not back any measure without President Trump’s support.
This website has updated its privacy policy in compliance with EU GDPR 2016/679. Please read this to review the updates about which personal data we collect on our site. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our updated policy. AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
