Mexico’s president is trying to prevent Donald Trump from deporting Mexican illegals and to preserve the huge, semi-secret migrant quota granted to the country by President Joe Biden’s pro-migration deputies.
“We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders but to build bridges between governments and between peoples,” President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote to Trump in a Wednesday message.
Since 2022, Biden’s deputies have quietly admitted 400,000 extra Mexicans via the border’s official entry gates. Some have likely been deported, and some of the inflow is likely part of the border management deals cut by Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s pro-migration border chief.
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The Mayorkas migration of Mexicans into the United States has been an economic boon to Mexico. “It’s a massive unauthorized work program for [migrant] Mexicans,” said Todd Bensman, who tracks migrant flows for the D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies.
Mayorkas’ deputies have not explained the deals, nor what Mexico does in exchange for the secret migration which enters via the Office of Field Operations at the border gates. The OFO is part of the Customs and Border Protection agency.
Mayorkas’ steady inflow of inadmissible Mexicans has been ignored by the establishment media, even though it can be seen in Mayorkas’ monthly reports:
Mayorkas describes his pro-migration policies as equity for migrants and good for U.S. business. But he ignores the economic and civic harm to American families. In November, his unpopular economic policy greatly helped Trump to defeat Kamala Harris.
The Mexican migrants that are welcomed by Mayorkas are in addition to the flow of Mexican college graduates into U.S. jobs via the TN Visa, and the daily inflow of Mexicans who get “border cards” to commute to jobs in the United States.
In 2021, Mayorkas also shut down enforcement of the nation’s migration laws. The hands-off policy protected the roughly five million illegal-migrant, hard-working Mexicans living in the United States.
El Pais, a leading Spanish language newspaper, reported on November 22:
Remittances are one of the pillars of the Mexican economy and account for around 4% of GDP, according to official estimates. Last year, over $63 billion was received in remittances from abroad.
“Our [migrant] countrymen and women are heroes and heroines, workers who support their families and the Mexican economy, but also, let it be heard loud and clear, they contribute to the economy of the United States,” Sheinbaum said on November 25.
Sheinbaum also said she is protecting illegal-migrant Mexicans from repatriation by sending more diplomats and lawyers to Mexico’s network of roughly 50 consulates throughout the United States.
Sheinbaum sent her “build bridges” message on Wednesday after Trump claimed a huge diplomatic victory via Truth Social:
Just had a wonderful conversation with the new President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. She has agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border. We also talked about what can be done to stop the massive drug inflow into the United States, and also, U.S. consumption of these drugs. It was a very productive conversation!
In a follow-up, Trump posted:
Mexico will stop people from going to our Southern Border, effective immediately. THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA. Thank you!!!
In these talks, Sheinbaum is making concessions to Trump by curbing illegal migration and drug smuggling.
In our conversation with President Trump, I explained to him the comprehensive strategy that Mexico has followed to address the migratory phenomenon, respecting human rights. Thanks to this, migrants and caravans are attended to [stopped] before they arrive at the border.
Sheinbaum’s limited concessions may help counter Trump’s threat to place 25 percent tariffs on shield Mexico’s vital trade in auto parts and agriculture with the United States.
But the concessions on migrants transiting Mexico and the drug trade would have some costly benefits for Mexico.
Mexico’s society has been crippled by warfare between vicious cartels that are fueled by a huge U.S. appetite for illegal drugs. The appetite comes from millions of Americans — most of whom have been discarded by the D.C. establishment’s low-wage, high-migration economic strategy.
Mexico would suffer far more from a trade war than would the United States, said Bensman. “Mexico is in no negotiating position at all here — they’re in a very weak position with somebody like Trump,” he said.
Trump is also expected to persuade the countries south of Mexico — especially Panama and Guatemala — to block the flow of would-be migrants before they can get to Mexico.
Trump can also make even a tough deal look good for Mexico, Bensman said. “He can give them money for the [migrant] deportation flights and infrastructure.”
Mexico is protecting its vital national interests, so there is much room for a deal that benefits both Trump and Mexico, said Bensman.