Development: On 3 April, the Mexican government asked the US for clarification on President Donald Trump’s remarks that the US military would patrol the southern border while his proposed border wall is built.
Significance: President Trump claimed in a meeting with the leaders of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia yesterday that the US military will be used for border security while the border wall is being constructed, but he gave no other details. Trump’s remarks came in response to reports that a caravan of hundreds of migrants was traveling from Central America through Mexico seeking to enter the US to request asylum. Both Mexico’s foreign minister, Luis Videgaray Caso, and the ambassador to the US, Gerónimo Gutiérrez, have noted that the government led by President Enrique Peña Nieto is concerned by Trump’s remarks and is now seeking a clarification.
- Mexico’s interior minister, Alfonso Navarrete, stated in a press release that the so-called ‘Viacrucis del Migrante’ caravan of migrants, a yearly event that has been taking place since 2010 and which aims to draw attention to human and migrant rights violations, has now been dissolved by the leaders of the event and the migrants will either be repatriated to their home countries or taken in as refugees in Mexico.
- President Trump had threatened earlier to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) if Mexico did not stop the migrants from approaching the US. However, Navarrete said that Mexico’s migratory policies are sovereign and will not be swayed by outside pressure.
- Ambassador Gutiérrez said that Mexico does not welcome the idea of military border control but was clear that the Peña Nieto government needs further clarification to form an official opinion. During an interview with CNN, Gutiérrez affirmed that Mexico wants to find common ground with the US to secure the shared borders, but that their migratory and asylum policies do not always align.
- The human rights NGO Amnesty International (AI) also expressed its concerns over the potential militarisation of the US-Mexico border yesterday. AI said that this could put vulnerable migrants in danger. Marselha Gonçalves Margerin, advocacy director for the Americas at AI USA, claimed that the Trump administration is turning its back on people fleeing violence in Central America and refusing to help those who need asylum.
Looking Ahead: Further clarification on Trump’s statements is expected within the next few days, once Trump discusses the viability of his plans. The Mexican government is then expected to give an official response. But with only US$1.6bn approved by the US Congress for construction of the border wall so far, any US military deployment may ultimately prove to be too costly for a project that is already struggling with funding.
