Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has announced that her country has received an estimated 4,094 people deported from the United States in the week since Donald Trump took office there.
That number includes citizens from other countries, though Sheinbaum specified that the majority were Mexican.
There has been no “substantial increase” in non-citizens arriving in the country, she added.
Sheinbaum’s statement on Monday arrives at a delicate time for diplomacy in Latin America, as the region braces for changes under Trump’s second term as US president.
Trump had campaigned on the promise of leading a “mass deportation” effort, and he has also pledged to push forward an aggressive “America First” foreign policy platform.
Over the weekend, those efforts came to a head in a clash with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, after the left-wing leader initially refused to accept US deportees sent on military flights.
Colombia has long been a close ally of the US, particularly in its global “war on drugs”.
Nevertheless, Trump responded to Petro’s refusal by threatening to raise tariffs against Colombia, first by 25 percent and later by 50 percent. His administration also cancelled visa appointments at the US embassy in Bogota, Colombia’s capital.
Petro indicated he would retaliate with tariffs of his own against the US. But by Sunday evening, he had backed down, allowing the deportation flights to resume.
A return to ‘Remain in Mexico’?
News reports in the US indicate that Mexico also refused access to a US military flight bearing deportees last week, though the circumstances that grounded the plane remain unclear.
In the past, Sheinbaum and her administration have expressed disapproval over what they called “unilateral deportations” from the US.
In December, Sheinbaum also emphasised that her priority would be to receive Mexicans, not citizens from other countries.
“Our main function is to receive Mexicans,” she said. “We hope to have an agreement with the Trump administration in case deportations occur so that they also send people who come from other countries back to their countries of origin.”
But on Monday, Sheinbaum emphasised that there was precedent for Mexico accepting non-citizen deportees from the US.
She pointed to her predecessor and political mentor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Under former US President Joe Biden, Lopez Obrador agreed to accept up to 30,000 migrants and asylum seekers from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti per month.
And in 2019, during Trump’s first term, Lopez Obrador committed to a policy known as “Remain in Mexico”, which required asylum seekers to stay in the country while making asylum claims at the US border.
Critics had decried the policy as a violation of humanitarian law, which allows asylum seekers to cross borders to escape imminent persecution.
They also pointed out that, under the “Remain in Mexico” policy, asylum seekers would be vulnerable to abuse from corrupt officials and cartels that operate along the Mexican side of the border.
The policy was formally ended in 2021, under Biden. But Trump aims to reinstate “Remain in Mexico” during his second term. He was sworn in on January 20.
While Sheinbaum has not yet agreed publicly to the proposal, she indicated on Monday that an agreement could be reached to keep non-citizens in Mexico.
“In the case of people who are not Mexican, there is also prior coordination,” Sheinbaum said.
“The United States has also had fluid communication with other governments, particularly in Central America.”
She added that Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente was continuing conversations with the Trump administration “in particular on the issue of migration and the repatriation of Mexicans”.
Emphasis on ‘dialogue and respect’
On Monday, Sheinbaum also praised the resolution of the US conflict with Colombia, which threatened to spark a regional trade war.
“We think it is good that an agreement has finally been reached between the Colombian government and the United States government,” she said. “Dialogue and respect must prevail.”
The Trump administration, meanwhile, has touted its clash with Colombia as a sign of the power of its foreign policy.
“The Government of Colombia has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Sunday.
“Today’s events made clear to the world that America is respected again.”
Faced with last week’s news reports that Mexico had rejected a deportation flight as well, Leavitt responded with another statement touting Mexico’s cooperation.
“Thanks to President Trump: Yesterday, Mexico accepted a record 4 deportation flights in 1 day!” Leavitt wrote.
But the military-led deportation flights are likely to result in ongoing tensions around the region.
In a statement on Saturday, officials in Brazil denounced the use of handcuffs on US deportation flights, calling it a sign of the “blatant disrespect” for human rights.
Trump also said the retaliatory measures against Colombia “are just the beginning” of his plans to ensure his deportation programme continues.
Mexico, meanwhile, has launched a repatriation programme called “Mexico Embraces You” to “welcome its fellow citizens with open arms” as deportations continue from the US.
