Immigration: Mexico’s head of state discusses migration policy with Trump

After Donald Trump’s announcement of high import tariffs on Mexican goods, the US President-elect and Mexico’s head of state Claudia Sheinbaum discussed migration policy at the shared border. Both reported a good conversation, but gave different interpretations of the content.

Trump claimed on the platform he co-founded, Truth Social, that Sheinbaum had pledged to stop migration across the Mexican border. “Effective immediately, Mexico will prevent people from reaching our southern border. This will significantly curb the illegal invasion of the United States,” Trump wrote.

Sheinbaum rejected this: “Mexico’s position is not to close borders, but to build bridges between governments and peoples.” In the conversation, she simply said that Mexico takes care of migrants before they reach the US border, while respecting human rights. The Latin American country has been using its national guard for years to stop migrants on their way to the USA.

Trump wants to impose high tariffs because of immigrants

Despite the obstacles and dangers, every year tens of thousands of people from South American countries try to flee poverty, violence and political crises across the Mexican border into the USA. Hundreds die every year on the dangerous route north, for example from lack of water and heat strokes. Others fall victim to criminal gangs.

During the election campaign in the USA, Trump generally portrayed immigrants as dangerous criminals. At the beginning of the week, he announced that he would impose import tariffs of 25 percent on all goods from Mexico on his first day in office, January 20th – and justified this by saying that The immigrants would also bring crime and drugs into the USA from Mexico. Sheinbaum questioned the wisdom of the tariffs and suggested that Mexico could also impose tariffs.