Mexico Says It Is Holding Back 250K Migrants amid Tariff Threat

Mexico’s top diplomats issued a veiled threat to the U.S. government suggesting that without their efforts, 250,000 more Central American migrants could proceed north. The statement follows President Donald Trump’s threat of raising a 5 percent tariff if Mexico does not strengthen its borders.

On Monday evening, Mexico’s Foreign Relations Secretariat posted a statement claiming the country was effectively providing humanitarian visas to Central American migrants and strengthening immigration enforcement operations in southern Mexico.

“Without these important Mexican efforts in immigration matters, the U.S. would receive 250,000 additional migrants, only in 2019,” the prepared statement revealed. The veiled threat was buried at in the middle of a document where Mexican officials claimed to have deported more than 80,000 migrants and arrested 400 suspected smugglers in conjunction with U.S. officials.

As Breitbart News reported, U.S. immigration authorities are apprehending record-setting groups of migrants in a trend that is expected to reach more than 1 million persons by the end of fiscal year 2019.

In recent months, Mexican officials have provided buses and security for thousands of migrants moving to the U.S. border with increasing efficiency. In February, the border state of Coahuila provided 49 buses to move nearly 2,000 migrants to Piedras Negras, where the migrants expected to cross into Texas and request asylum.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Border / Cartel Chronicles. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Border / Cartel Chronicles. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.