Mike Norris, Co-Editor, The American Dossier
On Friday, President Trump announced that the United States (U.S.) and Mexico had reached an agreement on actions to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants across the southwestern border. The President’s announcement came after several days of negotiations between American and Mexican officials in Washington.
“The Tariffs scheduled to be implemented by the U.S. on Monday, against Mexico, are hereby indefinitely suspended,” Trump wrote. “Mexico, in turn, has agreed to take strong measures to stem the tide of Migration through Mexico, and to our Southern Border.”
Martha Bárcena, the Mexican ambassador to the U.S., wrote on Twitter that Mexico had agreed to “strengthen measures for the application of its immigration law.” According to a U.S. - Mexico Joint Declaration distributed by the State Department, Mexico agreed to “take unprecedented steps to increase enforcement to curb irregular migration.”
Mexican officials, led by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, opened negotiations by pledging to deploy 6,000 National Guard troops to the Guatemalan border to stop the northward flow of illegal immigrants.
The declaration said Mexico had also agreed to increase their participation in the Migrant Protection Protocols, in which some asylum seekers are sent to wait in Mexico while their claims in the United States are processed.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he plans to pay for the U.S. - Mexico immigration deal by selling his presidential plane. The Mexican government bought the plane in 2012 for $368 million, the most expensive airplane at the time. The airplane includes amenities such as an extensive presidential suite, seven meeting rooms, plush leather seating with a capacity to seat 250 passengers, and a marble-lined bathroom.
A government study found they would lose a significant amount of money on the resale of the plane. Mexico is also seeking to sell 60 government-owned planes and 70 helicopters.
But the declaration by the two countries included an ominous warning, as well, stating that if Mexico’s actions “do not have the expected results,” additional measures could be taken.
At a news conference in Mexico City, Ebrard said that should the measures fail, the two countries would enter into negotiations that would, at a minimum, require Mexico to assume more of the burden of asylum seekers heading toward the United States.
One idea that Washington has proposed for years is a “safe third country” agreement. In this type of agreement, migrants requesting asylum would have to apply in Mexico. Those who enter the country illegally, before being granted asylum, would be turned away.
Mexico has long opposed the idea, preferring a regional asylum agreement that would review the flow of migrants across Mexico and Central America, with a number of countries, including Panama and Brazil.
Ebrard said at the press conference that his country had started its deployment of National Guard troops to Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala. “Starting from today, and in the coming days, the deployment is going to progress rapidly,” Ebrard said.
Trump has asked Congress for $4.5billion in emergency funding to better care for the growing number of children and families amassed at the border. He has also asked Congress to amend the policies that have helped fuel the new surge, such as a 2015 policy that requires illegal immigrant families to be released within 20 days of their apprehension.
Democrats are torn over the requests. Off the record, key Senators say the President’s requests will improve living condition for the children and families of illegal immigrants caught at the border, but they do not want to fund the detention of single adult immigrants caught at the border, or criminals caught in the interior.
They also want to attach conditions to the money to expand inspections of detention facilities, and prohibit information sharing on the sponsors who come forward to take illegal immigrant children. Often those sponsors are, themselves, illegal immigrants.
The Trump administration says if the government becomes aware of those targets, they should be able to act. Democrats say the households should be protected if they are willing to sponsor an immigrant child who is living in the U.S. illegally.
Mexico is planning on releasing more details on how they plan to enforce the deal. After months of blasting Mexico over the border, President Trump stated that he expects big things from the new deal.
“I think Mexico really wants to produce. If Mexico does a great job, then you’re not going to have very many people coming up,” he said. But he warned: “If they don’t, then we have phase two. Phase two is very tough. But I think they’re going to do a good job.”
Trump contrasted Mexico’s spirit of cooperation with the obstructionism his immigration plans have faced from Congressional Democrats. “Right now Mexico is helping us much more on immigration than Democrats in the U.S.,” the President tweeted.
After serving as an Airborne Infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division, Mike attended Florida State University, where he received his Bachelors Degree in Political Science and George Washington University, where he received his Masters in Political Management.
Since 2004, Mike has worked in the Florida Senate, where he was one of only two Chief’s of Staff under 30 and in the Michigan Senate, where he served as the Legislative Aide to the Assistant Minority Floor Leader. The 2018 election cycle was Mike’s eighth as a Political Consultant.
Mike previously served as the Secretary and Vice President of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans, Regional Vice Chair for the Florida Federated Young Republicans and attended the 2012 Republican National Convention as an Alternate Delegate. He currently lives in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, with his rescue Pit Bull, Ike.