NAN-F-55
Immigrants
Mexico, Feb. 24, 2017 (dpa/NAN) Mexico will not accept undocumented immigrants from other countries whom the U.S. plans to deport, Mexico’s Interior Minister Miguel Chong said on Friday.
“We can receive only those who ask for refuge in Mexico.
“We can’t be a waiting room for those who want to get to the U.S.,’’ Chong said.
New guidelines from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security provide that deported immigrants be sent to Mexico until their cases were decided.
The minister said that Mexico does not want and cannot accept migrants from Central America.
Tens of thousands of people from the Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras travel through Mexico to try to enter the U.S. every year.
Mexico and the U.S. have in the past worked closely together to combat illegal migration.
“We will have to reject them.
“There is no possibility that they can be received by Mexico,’’ he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Home Secretary John Kelly traveled to Mexico for talks, in spite of a conciliatory tone, both sides remained firm on their differences, particularly on the topic of migration.
An estimated 5.8 million Mexicans were living without authorisation in the U.S in 2014, the Pew Research Centre estimates.
In recent years, net immigration from Mexico has been negative, with more Mexicans returning to Mexico than migrating to the U.S. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Ese E. Ekama