On Tuesday, Mexico described as cruel and inhumane the US law of ‘zero tolerance’ that is separating thousands of children from their immigrant parents who illegally cross the common border into the United States, opening a new crack in the relationship with Washington under the administration of Donald Trump.
On behalf of the government and the people of Mexico I want to express our most categorical and energetic condemnation of a cruel and inhuman policy,”
stated Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray at a press conference in Mexico City.
Concerned about fulfilling its promise to expel undocumented immigrants, the Trump government recently announced an immigration policy whereby anyone who enters clandestinely will be arrested and will face criminal charges. And when it comes to families, children will be separated from parents. In this context, 2,342 children were separated from their families between May 5th and June 9th.
We cannot remain indifferent”
to this situation, stressed Videgaray,
calling on the government of the United States, at the highest level, to reconsider this policy and give priority to the welfare and rights of children regardless of their nationality and immigration status.”
The foreign minister said that less than 25 cases involve Mexicans and they are being served through their consular network, while the vast majority of migrants come from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, according to US government data.
Although it is not about Mexican children, we have a moral and also a constitutional responsibility,”
added Videgaray.
As diplomatic measures, the foreign minister said he spoke with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the US Secretary of State to express the Mexican position, and that his embassy in Washington delivered a note to the US government to express his “rejection and condemnation” of this policy.
Meanwhile, the ombudsmen of Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, and Guatemala jointly asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Tuesday to intercede so that the United States stops separating the minors from immigrant families.
Trump reaffirmed on Monday the controversial measures against immigrant families despite the growing scandal that this has caused.
The United States will not be an immigrant camp, and it will not be a complex to keep refugees,”
said Trump.
According to the president, among the immigrants seeking to enter the country there are people
who can be murderers and thieves, and many other things. We want a safe country, and that starts at the border. And so it will be.”
Trump unleashed the worst crisis in decades with his neighbor to the south by insisting on building a new wall -paid by Mexico- along the more than 3,000 kilometers of border they share, to prevent the arrival of undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America who arrive to American territory in search of a better life.