Talks with Mexican officials are not making “nearly enough” progress in curbing the Central American migration into the United States, said a tweet from President Donald Trump.
Negotiations with Mexico will continue on Thursday, Trump added.
….talks with Mexico will resume tomorrow with the understanding that, if no agreement is reached, Tariffs at the 5% level will begin on Monday, with monthly increases as per schedule. The higher the Tariffs go, the higher the number of companies that will move back to the USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2019
Mexico’s diplomatic position likely includes continued opposition to the U.S. demand that Mexico sign a “safe third country” agreement. The agreement would allow the U.S. to reject and then return migrants who travel through Mexico to reach the U.S. border.
But Mexico’s chief negotiator admitted the political crisis during a press conference after the talks, and after officials had announced that 140,000 migrants crossed from Mexico into the United States during May. “Today the [May] numbers report was published, and indeed the flows are growing too much, so they can’t be maintained as they are,” Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said. “Both sides recognize that the current situation cannot be maintained as it is,” he added.
The failure of the talks is a threat to Mexico’s economy. On Wednesday, U.S. financial markets downgraded Mexico’s economic forecasts.
But Democrat legislators and the establishment Republican senators are aiding Mexico’s hard-line stand, even as 350,000 migrants transited Mexico in March, April, and May.