Trump says Mexican president has ‘agreed to stop migration’
President-elect Donald Trump said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had “agreed to stop migration through Mexico”.
In a post on his Truth Social account on Wednesday evening, Mr Trump said this was “effectively closing our Southern Border.” He called it a “very productive conversation!”.
The Mexican president confirmed that she spoke with Trump, calling it an “excellent conversation”.
The announcement comes two days after Mr Trump threatened to impose sweeping new tariffs on Canada and Mexico as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs.
“We discussed Mexico’s strategy on migration issues, and I told him the caravans are not reaching the northern (US) border because Mexico is taking care of them,” Ms Sheinbaum wrote on social media.
“We also talked about reinforcing cooperation on security issues, within the framework of our sovereignty, and the campaign we are carrying out to prevent fentanyl consumption.”
It was unclear what impact the conversation would have on Mr Trump’s plan to impose tariffs.
The president-elect on Monday said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders upon taking office on January 20.
In announcing his plans on his Truth Social site, he railed against an influx of migrants crossing into the US illegally, even though southern border apprehensions have been hovering near four-year lows.
Illegal migration across the Mexico border is down in part because the Biden administration secured some increased co-operation on stemming migration from Mexico — the sort Mr Trump seems to be celebrating.
Arrivals at the US-Mexico border have dropped 40% from an all-time high in December. US officials mostly credit Mexican vigilance around rail yards and highway checkpoints.