MEXICO – Mexico and the United States agreed on Tuesday to seek an “orderly, safe and regular migration” amid a growing flow of Central Americans, political pressure in Washington and the Mexican claim for the covid vaccine – 18.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Roberta Jacobson , coordinator of the Southern Border of the White House, headed a private meeting in Mexico City to address the migratory transit from Central America, in particular of unaccompanied minors.
“The objective of the meetings was to advance both the international cooperation for development agenda and mechanisms for migratory cooperation, so that migratory flows in the region are orderly, safe and regular,” reported the Ministry of Foreign Relations ( SRE).
▶ ️ Chancellor’s message @ m_ebrard s about the working meetings on migration issues between the governments of Mexico and the United States held today at @ SRE_mx . pic.twitter.com/PE0RQ8UlpI
– Foreign Relations (@SRE_mx) March 23, 2021
The special delegation of the United States included the person in charge of Latin America and the Caribbean of the National Security Council (NSC, in English), Juan Gonzalez , and the special envoy for the Northern Triangle of Central America, Ricardo Zuñiga.
The Mexican side also participated Roberto Velasco , General Director for North America of the Foreign Ministry, and Laura Elena Carrillo, Executive Director of the Mexican Agency for International Cooperation for Development (Amexcid). The executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Mexican Alicia Bárcena, was also present virtually.
” The participants from both governments and from ECLAC agreed to strengthen cooperation to stimulate the regional economy in a more equitable way and, thus, reduce migratory flows from Central America ”, assured the Mexican Foreign Ministry.
Migrant wave
Although Mexico’s public statement did not mention arrests, the Institute National Migration Agency (INM) announced this Tuesday “a common front” on the southern border of the country, which includes the Armed Forces and the National Guard .
The INM reported the arrest of 25, 500 “irregular people” so far this year, an increase of about 18% compared to n the same period of 2020.
In the United States, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detained 78, 442 undocumented in February, versus 78,442 from January , an upward trend although it still did not reach May of 2019, when CBP apprehended 132, 856 people and the then US president, Donald Trump, threatened Mexico with the imposition of tariffs.
“We are applying the law of a controlled, safe and containment migration, because adults are using children as a migrant passport to transit in our country to the United States, ”said Francisco Garduño, head of the INM.
The Armed Forces of Mexico have indicated the deployment of 8, 856 members and 340 checkpoints where were “rescued” to 12, 905 migrants between February and March, a figure lower than those close to 25, 500 agents deployed following pressure from Trump in 2019.
“What we must attack are those networks that summon caravans,” said Garduño.
Pressure and vaccines
The visit of Jacobson, who was the United States ambassador to Mexico of 2016 to 2018, occurs while President Joe Biden faces political pressure due to the situation on the border.
After the bilateral meeting on March 1 with the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, after stated that Biden asked for help to control the migratory flow, while the Mexican president requested access to vaccines produced in the United States.
In his morning conference, López Obrador ruled out on Tuesday that Mexico increases immigration control in exchange for the loan of 2.7 million vaccines from AstraZeneca that it will receive from the United States this week.
“We do not accept supervision visits. We are not a colony, we are not a protectorate, Mexico is an independent, sovereign, free country ”, he replied.
The Mexican government has also raised suspicions for closing the southern border for the first time in the entire pandemic since last week on the grounds of avoiding contagion.
Ebrard justified the closure by pointing out that Campeche and Chiapas, border states of the southeast, are in the green color of the epidemic risk traffic light, so they must contain the pandemic so that they return to face-to-face classes.
Still thus, he admitted that he would raise with Jacobson the need for a shared vaccination plan on the northern border of Mexico.
“It is one of the issues we want to discuss. Not only that, but what will be the evolution in the coming months, because we have already had a year of restrictions in the case of the northern border, what will be the strategy to be followed, “he acknowledged.
By Pedro Pablo Cortés