Minister Marcelo Ebrard
met with U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo , on Sunday to discuss migration and trade .
After the meeting, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Mexico will not agree to further discuss a possible safe third country status for asylum seekers , adding it was not clear what the Trump administration ’s stance was on the issue despite a deadline reached on Monday.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard
said that during the meeting, Secretary Pompeo did not address an earlier deal that the two countries look at making asylum seekers apply for refuge in Mexico if migration flows were not significantly lower by July 22.
However, Ebrard said he told Pompeo that Mexico’s view was that the proposal was unnecessary after it helped reduce apprehensions at the U.S. southern border by about a third last month.
“I can’t anticipate what their stance is but the Mexican position is very clear. We are not going to change our position. We don’t agree, and we have not accepted a negotiation about it,” Ebrard said today at a news conference.
Mexico
has long resisted U.S. pressure to formally accept the safe third country status but agreed to begin talks over changing rules to make Mexico into a safe third country if, by July 22, the United States considered that Mexico had not done enough to curb migration .
That June 7 deal was reached to avert Donald Trump’s threat of increasing tariffs on all Mexican imports .
A safe third country agreement would, in theory, push asylum seekers to request refuge in Mexico .
Following the meeting on Sunday, Pompeo praised Mexican efforts in reducing U.S.-bound migrant flows but said there was still “more work to do.” He also said that he would consult with Trump about further action on migration .
“As for the next set of actions. I’ll talk with the president and the teams back in Washington and we’ll decide exactly which tools and exactly how to proceed,” Pompeo said.
In June, after Mexico enforced new measures, including the deployment of 21,000 National Guard officers to its borders, migrant apprehensions on the U.S. southern border fell to 100,000 people, according to U.S. data .
According to a statement released by U.S. authorities, Ebrard and Pompeo discussed “the mutual efforts to curb illegal immigration, the state of the USMCA , and the shared commitment to promote opportunities and economic prosperity in southern Mexico.”
Through Twitter, Pompeo said that during his meeting with Ebrard , they “reaffirmed out shared democratic values and cultural ties .”
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