Two days after US President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose heavy tariffs on Canada and Mexico as part of his plans to tackle illegal immigration and drug trafficking, he said that he had a conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum regarding border security.

Two days after US President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose heavy tariffs on Canada and Mexico as part of his plans to tackle illegal immigration and drug trafficking, he said that he had a conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum regarding border security. On Wednesday (Nov 27) evening, Trump shared on his Truth Social platform that he had spoken to Sheinbaum, who "agreed to stop migration through Mexico and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border." Calling it a "very productive conversation," he added, "THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA. Thank you!!!" Also read: Trump's cabinet nominees get targeted by numerous bomb threats, hoax calls Sheinbaum confirmed the discussion on her own social media account, describing it as an "excellent conversation". She said, “In our conversation with President Trump, I explained to him the comprehensive strategy that Mexico has followed to address the migration phenomenon, respecting human rights. Thanks to this, migrants and caravans are assisted before they reach the border.” However, she added that "Mexico's position is not to close borders but to build bridges between governments and between peoples.” Watch: Israel-Gaza War: IDF Warns Lebanon Truce Violations ‘Will Be Answered With Fire’ | World DNA | WION Sheinbaum also added that the two leaders talked about enhancing cooperation on security matters, respecting the sovereignty of both nations and Mexico’s ongoing campaign to tackle fentanyl consumption. Earlier this week, Trump announced plans to impose a 25% tax on all goods entering the US from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive actions upon taking office on January 20. He linked the move to the issue of illegal migration, despite reports showing that immigration at the southern border is currently near a four-year low. (With inputs from agencies)

Trump says Mexico agreed to 'stop' migration; Mexican President clarifies no plans to 'close borders'

Biden administration officials last year recommended closing or downsizing nine immigration detention centres because of high costs and staffing shortages, a move that could have saved $235 million, a draft U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memo reviewed by Reuters shows.

But ICE ultimately only ended contracts with two of the detention centres flagged in the memo.

Six of the nine detention centres identified in the August 2022 memo were operated by private companies. Among the for-profit detention centres was the Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico, where a government watchdog earlier had called for the relocation of all detainees due to "critical staffing shortages that have led to safety risks and unsanitary living conditions."

A finalised version of the memo dated September&nbsp;1, 2022, and reviewed by Reuters, omitted the recommendation to close Torrance. The finalised memo was shared with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' office, one current and one former U.S. official said, requesting anonymity to discuss the internal process.

U.S. President Joe Biden promised during the 2020 campaign to reform immigration detention and cut out for-profit companies. But with record numbers of migrants attempting to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border in 2022, some officials argued Torrance - about an hour southeast of Albuquerque - was needed due to its proximity to the border, the current and former officials said.

The failed detention reform effort shows the challenges Biden will face to deliver on his earlier campaign promises as he seeks another term in 2024.

"There's always perpetual fear about losing beds, that we'll look bad and get jammed," the current U.S. official told Reuters.

Following a Reuters request for comment, an ICE official said Torrance was a key detention centre and that ICE keeps the population lower than capacity to avoid overburdening the staff.

ICE did not comment on the authenticity of the documents reviewed by Reuters or the decision-making process.

"The agency continuously reviews and enhances civil detention operations to ensure non-citizens are treated humanely, protected from harm, provided appropriate medical and mental health care, and receive the rights and protections to which they are entitled," ICE spokesperson Jenny Burke said.

The draft memo stated that CoreCivic, the company that operates Torrance, could not maintain staffing and that the daily cost to house a detainee was more than double the average.

Brian Todd, a CoreCivic spokesperson, called allegations against Torrance "false and misleading" and said the facility provides "a safe, humane and appropriate environment" for detainees.

ICE ended contracts with two little-used facilities named in both memos: the Berks County Residential Center in Pennsylvania and Yuba County Jail in California. Both were run by the counties.

At Berks, which held families until 2021, each detainee cost about $1,200 per day, according to the draft memo, far beyond the $142 average in fiscal year 2022. At Yuba, the daily cost per detainee was $8,000, the memo said.

On Tuesday night, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico said it filed a wrongful death lawsuit in state court on behalf of the estate of Kesley Vial, a 23-year-old Brazilian man who hanged himself in Torrance on Aug. 17, 2022.

The lawsuit cites ICE contracting reports that said Torrance staffing shortages impacted safety, security and care. The suit cites government watchdog inspections that also found the facility failed to meet minimum medical staffing levels.

"That's a recipe for disaster," said Rebecca Sheff, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU of New Mexico.

Todd, the CoreCivic spokesperson, said ICE did not identify staffing or access to medical professionals as a factor in Vial's death.

<h2>EXORBITANT COSTS</h2>

The August 2022 draft ICE memo called for renegotiating contracts at Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California and the Farmville Detention Center in Virginia, two for-profit detention centers where ICE paid outsize sums to house a handful of detainees.

At the time, court orders intended to halt the spread of COVID-19 kept ICE from sending more detainees to both facilities, but ICE continued to pay for a minimum of nearly 1,500 beds at Adelanto and 500 at Farmville.

Each detainee cost about $2,000 per day at Adelanto, operated by the private prison company GEO Group, according to the memo. At Farmville, run by another private firm, Immigration Centers of America (ICA), it was $8,000 a day.

ICE reduced the minimum beds it paid for at Adelanto, according to ICE data posted in May 2023, but Farmville's minimum remains unchanged.

An ICE official said Adelanto is "a very well-run facility" that could be useful in the future although the court order continues to block new detainees from entering.

A separate U.S. official said Farmville is needed because of limited East Coast detention space. The facility held 70 people as of this week, ICE data shows.

GEO Group spokesperson Christopher Ferreira said the company could not comment on memos it had not reviewed but touted Adelanto as "a modern, state-of-the art facility built to suit ICE's needs."

ICA did not respond to requests for comment.

The Biden administration has held more migrants in ICE detention in recent months following the mid-May implementation of stricter asylum rules.

&nbsp;

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Biden administration officials last year recommended closing or downsizing nine immigration detention centres because of high costs and staffing shortages, a move that could have saved $235 million, a draft U.

Biden administration officials last year recommended closing or downsizing nine immigration detention centres because of high costs and staffing shortages, a move that could have saved $235 million, a draft U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memo reviewed by Reuters shows. But ICE ultimately only ended contracts with two of the detention centres flagged in the memo. Six of the nine detention centres identified in the August 2022 memo were operated by private companies. Among the for-profit detention centres was the Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico, where a government watchdog earlier had called for the relocation of all detainees due to "critical staffing shortages that have led to safety risks and unsanitary living conditions." A finalised version of the memo dated September 1, 2022, and reviewed by Reuters, omitted the recommendation to close Torrance. The finalised memo was shared with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' office, one current and one former U.S. official said, requesting anonymity to discuss the internal process. U.S. President Joe Biden promised during the 2020 campaign to reform immigration detention and cut out for-profit companies. But with record numbers of migrants attempting to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border in 2022, some officials argued Torrance - about an hour southeast of Albuquerque - was needed due to its proximity to the border, the current and former officials said. The failed detention reform effort shows the challenges Biden will face to deliver on his earlier campaign promises as he seeks another term in 2024. "There's always perpetual fear about losing beds, that we'll look bad and get jammed," the current U.S. official told Reuters. Following a Reuters request for comment, an ICE official said Torrance was a key detention centre and that ICE keeps the population lower than capacity to avoid overburdening the staff. ICE did not comment on the authenticity of the documents reviewed by Reuters or the decision-making process. "The agency continuously reviews and enhances civil detention operations to ensure non-citizens are treated humanely, protected from harm, provided appropriate medical and mental health care, and receive the rights and protections to which they are entitled," ICE spokesperson Jenny Burke said. The draft memo stated that CoreCivic, the company that operates Torrance, could not maintain staffing and that the daily cost to house a detainee was more than double the average. Brian Todd, a CoreCivic spokesperson, called allegations against Torrance "false and misleading" and said the facility provides "a safe, humane and appropriate environment" for detainees. ICE ended contracts with two little-used facilities named in both memos: the Berks County Residential Center in Pennsylvania and Yuba County Jail in California. Both were run by the counties. At Berks, which held families until 2021, each detainee cost about $1,200 per day, according to the draft memo, far beyond the $142 average in fiscal year 2022. At Yuba, the daily cost per detainee was $8,000, the memo said. On Tuesday night, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico said it filed a wrongful death lawsuit in state court on behalf of the estate of Kesley Vial, a 23-year-old Brazilian man who hanged himself in Torrance on Aug. 17, 2022. The lawsuit cites ICE contracting reports that said Torrance staffing shortages impacted safety, security and care. The suit cites government watchdog inspections that also found the facility failed to meet minimum medical staffing levels. "That's a recipe for disaster," said Rebecca Sheff, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU of New Mexico. Todd, the CoreCivic spokesperson, said ICE did not identify staffing or access to medical professionals as a factor in Vial's death. EXORBITANT COSTS The August 2022 draft ICE memo called for renegotiating contracts at Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California and the Farmville Detention Center in Virginia, two for-profit detention centers where ICE paid outsize sums to house a handful of detainees. At the time, court orders intended to halt the spread of COVID-19 kept ICE from sending more detainees to both facilities, but ICE continued to pay for a minimum of nearly 1,500 beds at Adelanto and 500 at Farmville. Each detainee cost about $2,000 per day at Adelanto, operated by the private prison company GEO Group, according to the memo. At Farmville, run by another private firm, Immigration Centers of America (ICA), it was $8,000 a day. ICE reduced the minimum beds it paid for at Adelanto, according to ICE data posted in May 2023, but Farmville's minimum remains unchanged. An ICE official said Adelanto is "a very well-run facility" that could be useful in the future although the court order continues to block new detainees from entering. A separate U.S. official said Farmville is needed because of limited East Coast detention space. The facility held 70 people as of this week, ICE data shows. GEO Group spokesperson Christopher Ferreira said the company could not comment on memos it had not reviewed but touted Adelanto as "a modern, state-of-the art facility built to suit ICE's needs." ICA did not respond to requests for comment. The Biden administration has held more migrants in ICE detention in recent months following the mid-May implementation of stricter asylum rules. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Biden officials kept immigration jails despite high costs, staff scarcity concerns

The US Supreme Court has decided to keep in effect, for now, the controversial Trump-era immigration policy, called Title 42, that was implemented during the start of the Covid pandemic to prevent the movement on the US-Mexico border.

The Biden administration had appealed at the top court to end the pandemic restriction, but the court on Tuesday in a 5-4 ruling decided to keep it temporarily.

It was originally due to expire on December 21 but, two days before the deadline, Chief Supreme Court Justice John Roberts blocked its termination.

On Tuesday, the court extended the temporary stay ordered by Justice Roberts while the case moved forward.

Moreover, the apex court will hear oral arguments on whether the states can intervene in defence of the policy.

The court will likely hear the arguments in February or March 2023, and a decision would be made by the end of June.

<h2>Migrants at US-Mexico border brave bitter cold; Title 42 restrictions to stay or go?</h2>

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Under Title 42, authorities have the power to deport undocumented migrants they encounter, without giving them a chance to ask for asylum protection or other protections under US law.

Former president Donald Trump implemented this order in March 2020 when COVID-19 was just beginning to surge in this country.

The Biden administration said it would comply with the ruling but called for reform of immigration policy.

"We are advancing our preparations to manage the border in a secure, orderly, and humane way when Title 42 eventually lifts and will continue expanding legal pathways for immigration," it said in a&nbsp;statement.

The judgement was well received by 19 Republican states who asked the court to keep the restrictions in place, not because of a public health emergency, but because they say removing the restrictions would likely cause a surge of illegal immigration.

(With inputs from agencies)

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The US Supreme Court has decided to keep in effect, for now, the controversial Trump-era immigration policy, called Title 42, that was implemented during the start of the Covid pandemic to prevent the movement on the US-Mexico border.

The US Supreme Court has decided to keep in effect, for now, the controversial Trump-era immigration policy, called Title 42, that was implemented during the start of the Covid pandemic to prevent the movement on the US-Mexico border. The Biden administration had appealed at the top court to end the pandemic restriction, but the court on Tuesday in a 5-4 ruling decided to keep it temporarily. It was originally due to expire on December 21 but, two days before the deadline, Chief Supreme Court Justice John Roberts blocked its termination. On Tuesday, the court extended the temporary stay ordered by Justice Roberts while the case moved forward. Moreover, the apex court will hear oral arguments on whether the states can intervene in defence of the policy. The court will likely hear the arguments in February or March 2023, and a decision would be made by the end of June. Migrants at US-Mexico border brave bitter cold; Title 42 restrictions to stay or go? Under Title 42, authorities have the power to deport undocumented migrants they encounter, without giving them a chance to ask for asylum protection or other protections under US law. Former president Donald Trump implemented this order in March 2020 when COVID-19 was just beginning to surge in this country. The Biden administration said it would comply with the ruling but called for reform of immigration policy. "We are advancing our preparations to manage the border in a secure, orderly, and humane way when Title 42 eventually lifts and will continue expanding legal pathways for immigration," it said in a statement. The judgement was well received by 19 Republican states who asked the court to keep the restrictions in place, not because of a public health emergency, but because they say removing the restrictions would likely cause a surge of illegal immigration. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Title 42: US Supreme Court keeps controversial Trump-era border restriction policy in place

The United States plans to send millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico and Canada, the White House said Thursday, a notable step into vaccine diplomacy just as the Biden administration is quietly pressing Mexico to curb the stream of migrants coming to the border.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said the United States was planning to share 2.5 million doses of the vaccine with Mexico and 1.5 million with Canada, adding that it was “not finalized yet, but that is our aim.”

Tens of millions of doses of the vaccine have been sitting in U.S. manufacturing sites. While their use has already been approved in dozens of countries, including Mexico and Canada, the vaccine has not yet been authorized by U.S. regulators. Psaki said the shipments to Mexico and Canada would essentially be a loan, with the United States receiving doses of AstraZeneca, or other vaccines, in the future.

The announcement of the vaccine distribution came at a critical time in negotiations with Mexico. President Joe Biden has moved quickly to dismantle some of former President Donald Trump’s signature immigration policies, halting the construction of a border wall, stopping the swift expulsion of children at the border and proposing a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the United States.

But he is clinging to a central element of Trump’s agenda: relying on Mexico to restrain a wave of people making their way to the United States.

Anticipating a surge of migrants and the most apprehensions by U.S. agents at the border in two decades, Biden asked President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico in a video call this month whether more could be done to help solve the problem, according to Mexican officials and another person briefed on the conversation.

The two presidents also discussed the possibility of the United States sending Mexico some of its surplus vaccine supply, a senior Mexican official said. Mexico has publicly asked the Biden administration to send it doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

At a news briefing Thursday, Psaki said that the discussions over vaccines and border security between the United States and Mexico were “unrelated” but also “overlapping.”

Asked by a reporter if the United States had “strings attached” to its offer to lend vaccines to Mexico, Psaki replied that there were “several diplomatic conversations — parallel conversations — many layers of conversations” at play in the discussions.

“There’s rarely just one issue you’re discussing with any country at one time,” Psaki said. “Certainly that’s not the case with Mexico. It’s not the case with any country around the world. And so I wouldn’t read into it more than our ability to provide — to lend — vaccine doses.”

Mexican officials also say the efforts to secure vaccines are separate from the negotiations over migration and rejected the notion that a quid pro quo was involved.

“These are two separate issues,” Roberto Velasco, director-general for the North America region at Mexico’s foreign ministry, said in a statement, referring to the engagement between the two countries on migration and vaccines.

But Mexican officials acknowledge that relations between the United States and Mexico, which has suffered one of the world’s deadliest coronavirus epidemics, would be buoyed by a shipment of doses south.

“We look for a more humane migratory system and enhanced cooperation against COVID-19 for the benefit of our two countries and the region,” Velasco added.

Several European countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine this week, a precaution because some people who had received the shot later developed blood clots and severe bleeding. But Thursday, Europe’s drug regulator declared the vaccine safe. AstraZeneca has also said that a review of 17 million people who received the vaccine found they were less likely than others to develop dangerous clots.

A Biden administration official declined to comment further on the negotiations with Mexico but noted that both countries shared a common goal of reducing migration by addressing its root causes and said they were working closely to stem the flow of people streaming to the border.

The Biden administration is facing intense pressure, scrambling to find shelter space for a growing number of migrant children and teenagers held in U.S. detention facilities along the border.

More than 4,500 of them were stuck in detention facilities as of Thursday, with the Biden administration working on putting them in a convention center in Dallas; a former camp for oil workers in Midland, Texas; and possibly a NASA site in California.

The administration has also identified nearly a dozen other sites, including Defense Department facilities, to potentially house the children and teenagers until they can be placed with a sponsor, according to a government document from March obtained by The New York Times. One of the sites — in Pecos, Texas — could hold 2,000 beds.

Mexico has agreed to increase its presence on its southern border with Guatemala to deter migration from Central America, one of the government officials said, and local Mexican officials say their country has recently stepped up efforts to stop migrants on the northern border with the United States as well.

But there are also signs that Mexico’s commitment to policing migration — a central demand of Trump, who wielded the threat of tariffs against all Mexican goods unless migration was curbed — may have flagged in the waning months of the Trump administration.

From October through December 2020, the number of Central Americans apprehended by Mexico declined, while detentions by U.S. agents increased, according to Mexican government numbers and data compiled by The Washington Office on Latin America, a research organization that advocates for human rights.

“The likelihood of the outgoing Trump administration threatening tariffs again was low, so there was an incentive for Mexico to go back to its default state of low apprehensions,” said Adam Isacson, an expert on border security at The Washington Office on Latin America.

The Biden administration’s appeal to do more against migration has put Mexico in a difficult position. While Trump strong-armed Mexico into militarizing the border, some Mexican officials argue that his harsh policies may have at times helped lessen their load by deterring migrants from attempting to make the journey north.

Biden is less likely to resort to threats of tariffs to get his way, officials and analyst say. But now Mexico is being asked to hold the line against a surge of migrants — while the Biden administration is signalling that the United States is more welcoming to migrants.

“They get to look like the good guys, and the Mexicans look like the bad guys,” said Cris Ramón, an immigration consultant based in Washington, D.C.

“All the positive humanitarian policies are being done by the Biden administration.” Ramón added, “and then the Mexicans are left with the dirty work.”

As for Canada, several of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s political opponents repeatedly pressed him to lobby the new Biden administration for the release of vaccines. Many Canadians have expressed dismay that the United States had not shared any supplies with Canada, where no coronavirus vaccines are manufactured.

Until Thursday, all of Canada’s vaccine supply had come from Europe or India, and Canada’s rollout has proceeded at a slow pace compared with the United States and many other countries.

“God bless America; they’re coming to our rescue,” Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, told a news conference.

While the Biden administration has committed to helping a major vaccine manufacturer in India, the United States has fallen far behind China, India and Russia in the race to use vaccines as diplomatic tools.

Beijing is shipping vaccines to dozens of countries, including some in Africa and Latin America. Russia has supplied its vaccine to Hungary and Slovakia. Biden has also drawn criticism for not making it easier for poorer countries to gain access to generic versions of coronavirus vaccines and treatments.

With Mexico, the Biden administration has been urging the country to accept more families expelled by U.S. authorities and to increase enforcement at Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala, according to two Mexican officials and two others briefed on the discussions.

López Obrador is also trying to find a way to increase capacity to house migrants in shelters, which are bursting at the seams. In a statement Tuesday, the secretary for homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, said he was working with Mexico to do that.

“Shelters are at a near collapse,” said Enrique Valenzuela, a lead coordinator for the government of Chihuahua state’s migration efforts.

Local government officials in Ciudad Juárez and shelter operators say Mexico is dialling up operations to capture and deport migrants along the northern border. On a nearly daily basis, two of them said, Mexican authorities are stopping vans stuffed with families and pickup trucks carrying livestock — along with migrants crouching on the floor to avoid detection.

Part of the reason Mexico is willing to continue cracking down is that, despite being a country that has long sent people north, there is a lot of resentment toward Central American migrants.

“The level of negative attitudes that we have toward migrant flows has gone up, so there won’t be a political cost” for López Obrador, said Tonatiuh Guillén, who ran Mexico’s National Migration Institute in the first half of 2019. “But with Trump, we negotiated nothing; we gave them a lot, and they didn’t give us anything back,” he added, arguing that the strategy should be different with Biden.

Despite the very public tensions with Mexico under Trump, López Obrador has been wary of the Biden administration, concerned that it might be more willing to interfere on domestic issues like labour rights or the environment.

Instead, several Mexican officials say, his government has pushed the United States to deter Central Americans from migrating by sending humanitarian aid to Honduras and Guatemala in the wake of two hurricanes that devastated those countries and, many experts believe, pushed even more people to migrate.

Mexican officials have also asked the United States to send more Hondurans and Guatemalans apprehended in the United States directly to their home countries rather than releasing them to Mexico, making it even harder for them to try to cross the border again.

The need for vaccines in Mexico is clear.

About 200,000 people have died in Mexico from the virus — the third-highest death toll in the world — and the country has been relatively slow to vaccinate its population. That poses a potential political risk for López Obrador, whose party is heading into elections in June that will determine whether the president hangs onto control of the Legislature.

“Mexico needs cooperation from the U.S. in getting its economy jump-started and getting vaccines to get out of the health crisis,” said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute in Washington. “So there’s room for the two countries to reach agreements based on aligned interests rather than overt threats.”

The United States plans to send millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico and Canada, the White House said Thursday, a notable step into vaccine diplomacy just as the Biden administration is quietly pressing Mexico to curb the stream of migrants coming to the border.

The United States plans to send millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico and Canada, the White House said Thursday, a notable step into vaccine diplomacy just as the Biden administration is quietly pressing Mexico to curb the stream of migrants coming to the border. Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said the United States was planning to share 2.5 million doses of the vaccine with Mexico and 1.5 million with Canada, adding that it was “not finalized yet, but that is our aim.” Tens of millions of doses of the vaccine have been sitting in U.S. manufacturing sites. While their use has already been approved in dozens of countries, including Mexico and Canada, the vaccine has not yet been authorized by U.S. regulators. Psaki said the shipments to Mexico and Canada would essentially be a loan, with the United States receiving doses of AstraZeneca, or other vaccines, in the future. The announcement of the vaccine distribution came at a critical time in negotiations with Mexico. President Joe Biden has moved quickly to dismantle some of former President Donald Trump’s signature immigration policies, halting the construction of a border wall, stopping the swift expulsion of children at the border and proposing a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the United States. But he is clinging to a central element of Trump’s agenda: relying on Mexico to restrain a wave of people making their way to the United States. Anticipating a surge of migrants and the most apprehensions by U.S. agents at the border in two decades, Biden asked President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico in a video call this month whether more could be done to help solve the problem, according to Mexican officials and another person briefed on the conversation. The two presidents also discussed the possibility of the United States sending Mexico some of its surplus vaccine supply, a senior Mexican official said. Mexico has publicly asked the Biden administration to send it doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. At a news briefing Thursday, Psaki said that the discussions over vaccines and border security between the United States and Mexico were “unrelated” but also “overlapping.” Asked by a reporter if the United States had “strings attached” to its offer to lend vaccines to Mexico, Psaki replied that there were “several diplomatic conversations — parallel conversations — many layers of conversations” at play in the discussions. “There’s rarely just one issue you’re discussing with any country at one time,” Psaki said. “Certainly that’s not the case with Mexico. It’s not the case with any country around the world. And so I wouldn’t read into it more than our ability to provide — to lend — vaccine doses.” Mexican officials also say the efforts to secure vaccines are separate from the negotiations over migration and rejected the notion that a quid pro quo was involved. “These are two separate issues,” Roberto Velasco, director-general for the North America region at Mexico’s foreign ministry, said in a statement, referring to the engagement between the two countries on migration and vaccines. But Mexican officials acknowledge that relations between the United States and Mexico, which has suffered one of the world’s deadliest coronavirus epidemics, would be buoyed by a shipment of doses south. “We look for a more humane migratory system and enhanced cooperation against COVID-19 for the benefit of our two countries and the region,” Velasco added. Several European countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine this week, a precaution because some people who had received the shot later developed blood clots and severe bleeding. But Thursday, Europe’s drug regulator declared the vaccine safe. AstraZeneca has also said that a review of 17 million people who received the vaccine found they were less likely than others to develop dangerous clots. A Biden administration official declined to comment further on the negotiations with Mexico but noted that both countries shared a common goal of reducing migration by addressing its root causes and said they were working closely to stem the flow of people streaming to the border. The Biden administration is facing intense pressure, scrambling to find shelter space for a growing number of migrant children and teenagers held in U.S. detention facilities along the border. More than 4,500 of them were stuck in detention facilities as of Thursday, with the Biden administration working on putting them in a convention center in Dallas; a former camp for oil workers in Midland, Texas; and possibly a NASA site in California. The administration has also identified nearly a dozen other sites, including Defense Department facilities, to potentially house the children and teenagers until they can be placed with a sponsor, according to a government document from March obtained by The New York Times. One of the sites — in Pecos, Texas — could hold 2,000 beds. Mexico has agreed to increase its presence on its southern border with Guatemala to deter migration from Central America, one of the government officials said, and local Mexican officials say their country has recently stepped up efforts to stop migrants on the northern border with the United States as well. But there are also signs that Mexico’s commitment to policing migration — a central demand of Trump, who wielded the threat of tariffs against all Mexican goods unless migration was curbed — may have flagged in the waning months of the Trump administration. From October through December 2020, the number of Central Americans apprehended by Mexico declined, while detentions by U.S. agents increased, according to Mexican government numbers and data compiled by The Washington Office on Latin America, a research organization that advocates for human rights. “The likelihood of the outgoing Trump administration threatening tariffs again was low, so there was an incentive for Mexico to go back to its default state of low apprehensions,” said Adam Isacson, an expert on border security at The Washington Office on Latin America. The Biden administration’s appeal to do more against migration has put Mexico in a difficult position. While Trump strong-armed Mexico into militarizing the border, some Mexican officials argue that his harsh policies may have at times helped lessen their load by deterring migrants from attempting to make the journey north. Biden is less likely to resort to threats of tariffs to get his way, officials and analyst say. But now Mexico is being asked to hold the line against a surge of migrants — while the Biden administration is signalling that the United States is more welcoming to migrants. “They get to look like the good guys, and the Mexicans look like the bad guys,” said Cris Ramón, an immigration consultant based in Washington, D.C. “All the positive humanitarian policies are being done by the Biden administration.” Ramón added, “and then the Mexicans are left with the dirty work.” As for Canada, several of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s political opponents repeatedly pressed him to lobby the new Biden administration for the release of vaccines. Many Canadians have expressed dismay that the United States had not shared any supplies with Canada, where no coronavirus vaccines are manufactured. Until Thursday, all of Canada’s vaccine supply had come from Europe or India, and Canada’s rollout has proceeded at a slow pace compared with the United States and many other countries. “God bless America; they’re coming to our rescue,” Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, told a news conference. While the Biden administration has committed to helping a major vaccine manufacturer in India, the United States has fallen far behind China, India and Russia in the race to use vaccines as diplomatic tools. Beijing is shipping vaccines to dozens of countries, including some in Africa and Latin America. Russia has supplied its vaccine to Hungary and Slovakia. Biden has also drawn criticism for not making it easier for poorer countries to gain access to generic versions of coronavirus vaccines and treatments. With Mexico, the Biden administration has been urging the country to accept more families expelled by U.S. authorities and to increase enforcement at Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala, according to two Mexican officials and two others briefed on the discussions. López Obrador is also trying to find a way to increase capacity to house migrants in shelters, which are bursting at the seams. In a statement Tuesday, the secretary for homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, said he was working with Mexico to do that. “Shelters are at a near collapse,” said Enrique Valenzuela, a lead coordinator for the government of Chihuahua state’s migration efforts. Local government officials in Ciudad Juárez and shelter operators say Mexico is dialling up operations to capture and deport migrants along the northern border. On a nearly daily basis, two of them said, Mexican authorities are stopping vans stuffed with families and pickup trucks carrying livestock — along with migrants crouching on the floor to avoid detection. Part of the reason Mexico is willing to continue cracking down is that, despite being a country that has long sent people north, there is a lot of resentment toward Central American migrants. “The level of negative attitudes that we have toward migrant flows has gone up, so there won’t be a political cost” for López Obrador, said Tonatiuh Guillén, who ran Mexico’s National Migration Institute in the first half of 2019. “But with Trump, we negotiated nothing; we gave them a lot, and they didn’t give us anything back,” he added, arguing that the strategy should be different with Biden. Despite the very public tensions with Mexico under Trump, López Obrador has been wary of the Biden administration, concerned that it might be more willing to interfere on domestic issues like labour rights or the environment. Instead, several Mexican officials say, his government has pushed the United States to deter Central Americans from migrating by sending humanitarian aid to Honduras and Guatemala in the wake of two hurricanes that devastated those countries and, many experts believe, pushed even more people to migrate. Mexican officials have also asked the United States to send more Hondurans and Guatemalans apprehended in the United States directly to their home countries rather than releasing them to Mexico, making it even harder for them to try to cross the border again. The need for vaccines in Mexico is clear. About 200,000 people have died in Mexico from the virus — the third-highest death toll in the world — and the country has been relatively slow to vaccinate its population. That poses a potential political risk for López Obrador, whose party is heading into elections in June that will determine whether the president hangs onto control of the Legislature. “Mexico needs cooperation from the U.S. in getting its economy jump-started and getting vaccines to get out of the health crisis,” said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute in Washington. “So there’s room for the two countries to reach agreements based on aligned interests rather than overt threats.”

US to send millions of vaccine doses to Mexico and Canada

US immigration officials said on Tuesday that arrests linked to <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-administration-taps-disaster-cyber-funds-to-cover-immigration-246134">US border with Mexico</a> rose 88 per cent in 2019 while adding that nearly half those detained last month were "children or families, many of them led by human-trafficking cartels".

"They are profiting on the backs of this vulnerable population, and that's why it's still a crisis," said Robert Perez, deputy commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection.

Explaining the figures, acting Commissioner Mark Morgan said the average "1,400 apprehensions a day. That's still at crisis levels."

The number of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/i-feel-afraid-for-my-country-selena-gomez-on-immigration-crisis-in-united-states-253225">migrants apprehended</a> or turned away at the border actually fell in September to the lowest monthly total of the year, to 52,546, down 64 per cent from a peak in May, the immigration officials pointed out.

However, the combined total still rose 4 per cent over the same month compared to last year, and border arrests for the current fiscal ending in September reached an 11-year high.

The surge in arrests was mainly attributed to those coming from central&nbsp;American countries - &nbsp;Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.&nbsp;

Last year President Trump had declared "zero tolerance" policy towards immigration while urging the Congress to change the "ridiculous" laws, a move which was criticised by Democrats. Trump called for arresting anyone who comes into the country illegally.

"Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is continuing to collaborate with our foreign partners -&nbsp;particularly, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras -&nbsp;to address this as a regional crisis," Morgan said in a White House briefing.

Morgan and Perez confirmed they launched a pilot program in El Paso earlier this month, the Prompt Asylum Claim Review.

"The objective is within that same handful of days ... to get people through an immigration process as quickly as we possibly can, so that a judge, hopefully, makes a decision," Perez said.

Apart from the migrant restrictions, Morgan said 71 miles of new border barrier had been built while adding that a total of 450 miles would be completed by the end of 2020.

"It's a tough process," he said. "You have to obtain the land and land acquisition is a tough thing."

US immigration officials said on Tuesday that arrests linked to US border with Mexico rose 88 per cent in 2019 while adding that nearly half those detained last month were "children or families, many of them led by human-trafficking cartels".

US immigration officials said on Tuesday that arrests linked to US border with Mexico rose 88 per cent in 2019 while adding that nearly half those detained last month were "children or families, many of them led by human-trafficking cartels". "They are profiting on the backs of this vulnerable population, and that's why it's still a crisis," said Robert Perez, deputy commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection. Explaining the figures, acting Commissioner Mark Morgan said the average "1,400 apprehensions a day. That's still at crisis levels." The number of migrants apprehended or turned away at the border actually fell in September to the lowest monthly total of the year, to 52,546, down 64 per cent from a peak in May, the immigration officials pointed out. However, the combined total still rose 4 per cent over the same month compared to last year, and border arrests for the current fiscal ending in September reached an 11-year high. The surge in arrests was mainly attributed to those coming from central American countries - Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Last year President Trump had declared "zero tolerance" policy towards immigration while urging the Congress to change the "ridiculous" laws, a move which was criticised by Democrats. Trump called for arresting anyone who comes into the country illegally. "Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is continuing to collaborate with our foreign partners - particularly, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras - to address this as a regional crisis," Morgan said in a White House briefing. Morgan and Perez confirmed they launched a pilot program in El Paso earlier this month, the Prompt Asylum Claim Review. "The objective is within that same handful of days ... to get people through an immigration process as quickly as we possibly can, so that a judge, hopefully, makes a decision," Perez said. Apart from the migrant restrictions, Morgan said 71 miles of new border barrier had been built while adding that a total of 450 miles would be completed by the end of 2020. "It's a tough process," he said. "You have to obtain the land and land acquisition is a tough thing."

Immigration row: US-Mexico border arrests at 11-year high

Mexico avoided the most extreme immigration concession sought by US&nbsp;President Donald Trump in the deal reached to fend off <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-mulling-over-declaring-new-emergency-for-imposing-tariffs-on-mexico-225116">threatened tariffs</a>, but it is left even weaker than before in the face of potential new pressure from Trump as he formally kicks off his re-election campaign this month.

Under the deal reached on Friday, Mexico agreed to use a large part of its newly formed National Guard to hold back<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/its-business-as-usual-at-mexicos-southern-border-despite-trump-deal-225581"> immigrants</a> crossing from Guatemala, and to take in possibly tens of thousands of people seeking asylum in the United States while their cases are adjudicated.

Led by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, negotiators in Washington resisted Trump's core demand that Mexico is declared a safe third country, a classification that would oblige Central Americans crossing through Mexico to seek safe haven there, not the United States.

But the two sides agree more action could be taken if within 90 days the measures do not have the desired result of drastically bringing down the numbers of undocumented migrants reaching the US&nbsp;border from levels that are at a more-than-decade high. Last month alone 132,000 were apprehended by US&nbsp;authorities.

Former World Trade Organisation head Pascal Lamy called Trump's approach to coerce its neighbour and ally "hostage-taking," reflecting widely held concerns in Mexico that the US&nbsp;president will come back with more threats to extract greater concessions.

Those fears are sharpened because Trump has used Mexico-bashing to fire up his base on repeated occasions since kicking off his first campaign for the White House in 2015. All signs are that he intends to keep the focus on immigration and cross-border issues in his second-term campaign, which officially launches on June 18.

"We think the threats, demands and Trump tweets against Mexico will continue, especially because it's all tied up with the politics of the 2020 election," said Gabriela Siller, an economist at Mexican bank Banco Base.

Siller expects the peso currency to rise when markets open on Monday on relief that a trade war has been averted, but she said the uptick could be short-lived. The peso, which had been pummelled in recent months on fears over a trade war, on Friday strengthened 0.5% after Trump tweeted that there was a "good chance" a deal would be reached with Mexico.

"A SURRENDER"

Vicente Fox, a former Mexican president and long-term critic of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, tweeted that by allowing the United States to dictate how, for example, Mexico uses its security forces, the government has already ceded some of its sovereignty.

That sentiment was echoed by centre-left politician Angel Avila, on the other side of the political aisle from Fox, who called the deal "a surrender."

"Mexico shouldn't militarise its southern border," said Avila, who heads the Party of the Democratic Revolution.

Others, however, think Lopez Obrador had little choice beyond giving some ground in the negotiations because the threatened tariffs would have caused economic devastation in Mexico, whose economy contracted in the first quarter of this year.

Francisco Labastida, a former presidential candidate, said the scale of the current immigration crisis was a threat to Mexico itself, and action was needed regardless of Trump.

"Mexico would have had to change its migration policy for its own reasons due to national security," he said, arguing that current numbers are unmanageable.

Carlos Pascual, a former US&nbsp;ambassador to Mexico, praised the deal as preferable to the downward spiral of a tit-for-tat trade war but acknowledged it left Mexico open to further pressure.

"Mexico is weak economically and it's always going to be vulnerable if the United States is willing to use economic policy to enforce national security policy," he said.

"There's no doubt this leaves a Damocles sword hanging over Lopez Obrador's head," he said, invoking a metaphor that describes an ever-present peril.

Mexico avoided the most extreme immigration concession sought by US President Donald Trump in the deal reached to fend off threatened tariffs, but it is left even weaker than before in the face of potential new pressure from Trump as he formally kicks off his re-election campaign this month.

Mexico avoided the most extreme immigration concession sought by US President Donald Trump in the deal reached to fend off threatened tariffs, but it is left even weaker than before in the face of potential new pressure from Trump as he formally kicks off his re-election campaign this month. Under the deal reached on Friday, Mexico agreed to use a large part of its newly formed National Guard to hold back immigrants crossing from Guatemala, and to take in possibly tens of thousands of people seeking asylum in the United States while their cases are adjudicated. Led by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, negotiators in Washington resisted Trump's core demand that Mexico is declared a safe third country, a classification that would oblige Central Americans crossing through Mexico to seek safe haven there, not the United States. But the two sides agree more action could be taken if within 90 days the measures do not have the desired result of drastically bringing down the numbers of undocumented migrants reaching the US border from levels that are at a more-than-decade high. Last month alone 132,000 were apprehended by US authorities. Former World Trade Organisation head Pascal Lamy called Trump's approach to coerce its neighbour and ally "hostage-taking," reflecting widely held concerns in Mexico that the US president will come back with more threats to extract greater concessions. Those fears are sharpened because Trump has used Mexico-bashing to fire up his base on repeated occasions since kicking off his first campaign for the White House in 2015. All signs are that he intends to keep the focus on immigration and cross-border issues in his second-term campaign, which officially launches on June 18. "We think the threats, demands and Trump tweets against Mexico will continue, especially because it's all tied up with the politics of the 2020 election," said Gabriela Siller, an economist at Mexican bank Banco Base. Siller expects the peso currency to rise when markets open on Monday on relief that a trade war has been averted, but she said the uptick could be short-lived. The peso, which had been pummelled in recent months on fears over a trade war, on Friday strengthened 0.5% after Trump tweeted that there was a "good chance" a deal would be reached with Mexico. "A SURRENDER" Vicente Fox, a former Mexican president and long-term critic of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, tweeted that by allowing the United States to dictate how, for example, Mexico uses its security forces, the government has already ceded some of its sovereignty. That sentiment was echoed by centre-left politician Angel Avila, on the other side of the political aisle from Fox, who called the deal "a surrender." "Mexico shouldn't militarise its southern border," said Avila, who heads the Party of the Democratic Revolution. Others, however, think Lopez Obrador had little choice beyond giving some ground in the negotiations because the threatened tariffs would have caused economic devastation in Mexico, whose economy contracted in the first quarter of this year. Francisco Labastida, a former presidential candidate, said the scale of the current immigration crisis was a threat to Mexico itself, and action was needed regardless of Trump. "Mexico would have had to change its migration policy for its own reasons due to national security," he said, arguing that current numbers are unmanageable. Carlos Pascual, a former US ambassador to Mexico, praised the deal as preferable to the downward spiral of a tit-for-tat trade war but acknowledged it left Mexico open to further pressure. "Mexico is weak economically and it's always going to be vulnerable if the United States is willing to use economic policy to enforce national security policy," he said. "There's no doubt this leaves a Damocles sword hanging over Lopez Obrador's head," he said, invoking a metaphor that describes an ever-present peril.

Mexico holds off Trump's fire but seen vulnerable to new pressure

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mexico-eyes-steps-to-cut-immigrant-flows-to-us-border-official-223382">Mexico can reach an agreement with the United States</a> to resolve a dispute over migration that prompted US President Donald Trump to threaten punitive tariffs, Mexican officials said on Monday as high-level talks were set to begin in Washington.

Trump has proposed the tariffs on Mexican imports to pressure Mexico into action against migrants passing through on the way to the United States, as well as drug cartels.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, speaking at his regular morning news conference in Mexico City, also reiterated that he believed a deal could be reached to avert the tariffs.

The Mexican officials, speaking to reporters in Washington, warned that Trump's tariffs could backfire.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said such tariffs would be devastating and would not stop waves of Central American migrants from crossing the southern US border.

"Tariffs, along with the decision to cancel aid programs to the northern Central American countries, could have a counterproductive effect and would not reduce migration flows," Mexico's ambassador to the United States, Martha Barcena, also said at the news conference.

The tariffs also "could cause financial and economic instability," reducing Mexican authorities' capacity to address migration flows and "offer alternatives" to migrants fleeing Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, she said.

The discussions in Washington will include a meeting of Mexican Agriculture Minister Victor Villalobos and US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Monday, Mexican officials said.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and acting US Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan also are expected to participate in talks, Mexican officials said.

Mexican Economy Secretary Graciela Marquez and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will meet this week, as will Ebrard and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Trump's latest threat of tariffs further roiled global markets, which are already under pressure amid a trade war between the United States and China.

US stock index futures fell on Monday as the multi-front trade war made investors increasingly risk-averse and fueled worries of a recession.

Mexico has cited the economic risk of US tariffs on its goods as it seeks to soothe relations with Washington. A separate trade deal involving Mexico, the United States and Canada also is pending.

Ebrard told reporters Lopez Obrador had not yet decided if he would attend the Group of 20 summit for the world's leading economies in Japan but would do so this week.

&nbsp;

Mexico can reach an agreement with the United States to resolve a dispute over migration that prompted US President Donald Trump to threaten punitive tariffs, Mexican officials said on Monday as high-level talks were set to begin in Washington.

Mexico can reach an agreement with the United States to resolve a dispute over migration that prompted US President Donald Trump to threaten punitive tariffs, Mexican officials said on Monday as high-level talks were set to begin in Washington. Trump has proposed the tariffs on Mexican imports to pressure Mexico into action against migrants passing through on the way to the United States, as well as drug cartels. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, speaking at his regular morning news conference in Mexico City, also reiterated that he believed a deal could be reached to avert the tariffs. The Mexican officials, speaking to reporters in Washington, warned that Trump's tariffs could backfire. Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said such tariffs would be devastating and would not stop waves of Central American migrants from crossing the southern US border. "Tariffs, along with the decision to cancel aid programs to the northern Central American countries, could have a counterproductive effect and would not reduce migration flows," Mexico's ambassador to the United States, Martha Barcena, also said at the news conference. The tariffs also "could cause financial and economic instability," reducing Mexican authorities' capacity to address migration flows and "offer alternatives" to migrants fleeing Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, she said. The discussions in Washington will include a meeting of Mexican Agriculture Minister Victor Villalobos and US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Monday, Mexican officials said. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and acting US Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan also are expected to participate in talks, Mexican officials said. Mexican Economy Secretary Graciela Marquez and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will meet this week, as will Ebrard and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump's latest threat of tariffs further roiled global markets, which are already under pressure amid a trade war between the United States and China. US stock index futures fell on Monday as the multi-front trade war made investors increasingly risk-averse and fueled worries of a recession. Mexico has cited the economic risk of US tariffs on its goods as it seeks to soothe relations with Washington. A separate trade deal involving Mexico, the United States and Canada also is pending. Ebrard told reporters Lopez Obrador had not yet decided if he would attend the Group of 20 summit for the world's leading economies in Japan but would do so this week.

As meetings begin and US tariffs loom, Mexico hopes for migration deal