Trump announces migration deal with Mexico, averting threatened tariffs

[Gman]

All I heard from the left is that 'nothing could be done' and 'this will only cost American jobs'. Great job Mr. President at being willing to force the issue and get Mexico off the trade gravy train and actually doing something about it.

Trump announces migration deal with Mexico, averting threatened tariffs

President Trump announced Friday night that a deal was in place that would avert threatened tariffs on imports from Mexico in exchange for that country's taking "strong measures" to curb the influx of Central American migrants at the U.S. southern border.

The agreement, which came just two days before Trump had vowed to impose a 5 percent, across-the-board tariff on one of the United States' top trading partners, called for the Mexican government to widely dispatch its national guard forces to help with immigration enforcement, with priority in the south, on its border with Guatemala, according to a joint statement.

In addition, the two countries would expand a program known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), created this year, that allows the United States to return Central American migrants to Mexico while they await the adjudication of their asylum hearings in U.S. immigration court, a process that can take months.

The expansion of the program could result in tens of thousands of migrants waiting in limbo in potentially unsafe conditions in Mexico. MPP already has faced legal challenges, and while a federal appeals court panel in San Francisco has allowed it to temporarily continue while it reviews the policy, some judges have indicated that the MPP program might not be constitutional.

"I am pleased to inform you that The United States of America has reached a signed agreement with Mexico," Trump wrote on Twitter. "The Tariffs scheduled to be implemented by the U.S. on Monday, against Mexico, are hereby indefinitely suspended. Mexico, in turn, has agreed to take strong measures to stem the tide of Migration through Mexico, and to our Southern Border."

Mexican President Andr?s Manuel L?pez Obrador tweeted about the deal shortly after Trump, adding that he would still hold a planned rally in Tijuana on Saturday meant to "defend the dignity of Mexico."

"Thanks to the support of all Mexicans, the imposition of tariffs on Mexican products exported to the United States was avoided," he wrote.

At the State Department, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told reporters that the deal did not include a provision pushed by the Trump administration, known as a "Safe Third Country" agreement, that would have required asylum seekers to apply for refugee status in Mexico before reaching the United States, since it also is considered safe for asylum purposes.

"I think it is a fair balance because they had more drastic measures and proposals at the start and we reached a midpoint," Ebrard said.

[StagLefty]

I still think it's pretty sad when the President can't get Congress to do the right thing and reform our current immigration laws.
Well done Mr. President !!!

[Gman]

Unless the House can frame immigration reform under 'Trump scandal', they're not interested.

[theGinsue]

Mexican President Andr?s Manuel L?pez Obrador tweeted about the deal shortly after Trump, adding that he would still hold a planned rally in Tijuana on Saturday meant to "defend the dignity of Mexico."

"Dignity of Mexico"? What dignity? When your country is such a corrupt shithole that everyone wants to flee it to someplace else, how can you possibly have any dignity?

[Bailey Guns]

"Dignity of Mexico"? What dignity?

I thought we beat that outta them in about 20 mins back in 1836.

[O2HeN2]

You do realize that Mexico at some point in time will inflict violence on the people coming into the country at its south borders, and then it'll be Trumps fault and boy will it be all over the news then.

O2

[Eric P]

You do realize that Mexico at some point in time will inflict violence on the people coming into the country at its south borders, and then it'll be Trumps fault and boy will it be all over the news then.

O2

So. It will be after any election that matters.

The word of violence spreading could also dramatically slow down the immigrant train.

[Skip]

You do realize that Mexico at some point in time will inflict violence on the people coming into the country at its south borders, and then it'll be Trumps fault and boy will it be all over the news then.

O2

Yup. Probably just like "kids in cages."

Problem will be, just like "kids in cages," there are plenty of photos/stories/vids that show Mexican violence has been a persistent threat to migrants, Americans, and Mexican nationals for the last 30+ years.

It was also interesting to watch the strong objections to the tariff threats. It's been nearly three years of "judge in Hawaii" antics so there was relatively little else to be done. The government stands in open rebellion against our laws and a lot of "true Conservatives" seem fine with that.

[Gman]

I had heard that Mexico sent 6000 troops to the border with Guatemala. They don't want these 'refugees', they just keep the caravans moving through to our border. Now that we're not accepting them until their refugee status is approved, it seems Mexico wants to do something about it.

Mexico Sets Domestic Priorities Aside to Meet Terms of U.S. Trade Deal

...and here we go. Got to do/say/write anything to advance the narrative;

Mexico Agreed to Take Border Actions Months Before Trump Announced Tariff Deal

WASHINGTON — The deal to avert tariffs that President Trump announced with great fanfare on Friday night consists largely of actions that Mexico had already promised to take in prior discussions with the United States over the past several months, according to officials from both countries who are familiar with the negotiations.

Friday’s joint declaration says Mexico agreed to the “deployment of its National Guard throughout Mexico, giving priority to its southern border.” But the Mexican government had already pledged to do that in March during secret talks in Miami between Kirstjen Nielsen, then the secretary of homeland security, and Olga Sanchez, the Mexican secretary of the interior, the officials said.

The centerpiece of Mr. Trump’s deal was an expansion of a program to allow asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their legal cases proceed. But that arrangement was first reached in December in a pair of painstakingly negotiated diplomatic notes that the two countries exchanged. Ms. Nielsen announced the Migrant Protection Protocols during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee five days before Christmas.

And over the past week, negotiators failed to persuade Mexico to accept a “safe third country” treaty that would have given the United States the legal ability to reject asylum seekers if they had not sought refuge in Mexico first.

Mr. Trump hailed the agreement anyway on Saturday, writing on Twitter: “Everyone very excited about the new deal with Mexico!” He thanked the president of Mexico for “working so long and hard” on a plan to reduce the surge of migration into the United States.

It was unclear whether Mr. Trump believed that the agreement truly represented new and broader concessions, or whether the president understood the limits of the deal but accepted it as a face-saving way to escape from the political and economic consequences of imposing tariffs on Mexico, which he began threatening less than two weeks ago.

Having threatened Mexico with an escalating series of tariffs — starting at 5 percent and growing to 25 percent — the president faced enormous criticism from global leaders, business executives, Republican and Democratic lawmakers, and members of his own staff that he risked disrupting a critical marketplace.

After nine days of uncertainty, Mr. Trump backed down and accepted Mexico’s promises.

"There's nothing new here."
"This was already a 'done deal'."
"We're not even sure Trump knows what's going on."
"Trump didn't push for anything, he capitulated."

[Gman]

Trump's 'secret' agreement with Mexico revealed

President Trump teased the media this week when he dangled a one-page document he said contained a "secret" deal with Mexico in front of journalists. Now that document has been released in full.

The document is written in the conditional tense and references “the Joint Declaration of the Governments of the United States and Mexico of June, 7, 2019.”

It says the two countries agree to begin discussions to “establish definitive terms for a binding bilateral agreement to further address burden-sharing and the assignment of responsibility for processing refugee status claims of migrants.”

“If the United States determines, at its discretion and after consultation with Mexico, after 45 calendar days from the date of the issuance of the Joint Declaration, that the measures adopted by the Government of Mexico pursuant to the Joint Declaration have not sufficiently achieved results in addressing the flow of migrants to the southern border of the United States, the Government of Mexico will take all necessary steps under domestic law to bring the agreement into force with a view to ensuring that the agreement will enter into force within 45 days,” the document reads.

Mexico released the full text of the page on Friday, three days after Trump first showed off the paper.

“You would freeze-action it, you would stop it, you would analyze it,” Trump taunted reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Iowa. “I'm going to let Mexico do the announcement at the right time.”

Journalists snapped photos of the document illuminated by the sunlight and some of the words were able to be made out.

Earlier this month, Trump threatened a 5% tariff against Mexico if it didn't reduce migrant crossings. The tariff was averted after negotiations between the two parties in Washington.