President Donald Trump said on June 9 that additional details on the immigration deal reached with Mexico will be released by his administration at the “appropriate” time, without elaborating. He also denounced what he described as a “false” report from The New York Times.
In a string of early morning tweets, Trump disputed claims the deal contained commitments already agreed upon with Mexico months before he signed it. The president was responding to a June 8 article from The New York Times that cited unnamed officials from both countries.
“Another false report in the Failing @nytimes,” Trump wrote. “We have been trying to get some of these Border Actions for a long time, as have other administrations, but were not able to get them, or get them in full, until our signed agreement with Mexico.”
Another false report in the Failing @nytimes. We have been trying to get some of these Border Actions for a long time, as have other administrations, but were not able to get them, or get them in full, until our signed agreement with Mexico. Additionally, and for many years,….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2019
The agreement, announced by Trump on June 7, comes after three days of negotiations in Washington and averts the 5 percent import tariffs Trump had planned to impose on Mexico. In turn, Mexico agreed to take “strong measures” to stem the flow of illegal immigrants crossing the border, most of whom are travelling through Mexico from other Central American countries.
“Importantly, some things not mentioned in yesterday press release, one in particular, were agreed upon. That will be announced at the appropriate time,” Trump said in another post. “There is now going to be great cooperation between Mexico & the USA, something that didn’t exist for decades.”
…..not mentioned in yesterday press release, one in particular, were agreed upon. That will be announced at the appropriate time. There is now going to be great cooperation between Mexico & the USA, something that didn’t exist for decades. However, if for some unknown reason…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2019
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the additional details.
In additional tweets, Trump described how for years Mexico had been uncooperative on the border until now, and expressed “full confidence” that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will get the job “properly done.”
The deal includes the expansion of the Migrant Protection Protocols program that sends migrants seeking asylum in the United States to Mexico while their cases are being processed. Mexico will also boost security on their side of the border, including the deployment of the National Guard.
The New York Times claimed the program’s expansion was agreed upon in December and that Mexico had already agreed in March to deploy its National Guard.
In the month of May, Border officials reported the apprehension of over 132,000 illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico into the United States. The figure marked yet another increase over the previous month and the highest monthly level since 2006.
Trump also said that if Mexico severed their cooperation with the United States, “we can always go back to our previous, very profitable, position of Tariffs,” though he added that he doesn’t believe a return to tariffs talks was necessary. As of May, officials said they had apprehended nearly 600,000 illegal aliens on the southern border this fiscal year.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the deal met Trump’s objectives of fixing the problems along the Southern border and noted that he retains the authority to impose tariffs if Mexico fails to live up to it.
“Our expectation is that Mexico will do what they’ve committed to do and our expectation is that we won’t need to put tariffs in place, but obviously if that’s not the case, the president retains that authority,” Mnuchin told Reuters on June 8.
Reuters contributed to this report
From The Epoch Times
