OMM Newsroom
U.S. President Donald Trump has called on Mexico to stop a migrant caravan heading toward the United States, threatening to double tariffs on the country if it fails to do so. Trump said the migrants would not be allowed into the United States, AnewZ reports.
“Here we go again! They will not be admitted! Mexico must stop them NOW. Otherwise, tariffs on Mexico will be IMMEDIATELY doubled,” Trump wrote on social media on Thursday.
He added that Mexican officials, the governor of Texas, the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had been notified, and stressed that “there will be no concessions.”
A group of about 1,500 people, mostly from Central America, set off north on Tuesday from Tapachula, a southern Mexican city near the border with Guatemala. Many migrants hope that the Democrats’ victory in last week’s midterm elections, which will give them control of Congress starting in January, will create new legal opportunities to live and work in the United States.
Sheinbaum says there will be no repression
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that a group of people was heading north. She also said that no migrant caravan had reached the U.S. border since Trump resumed the presidency.
At her regular news conference, Sheinbaum said migrants had been informed that entering the United States was difficult, and that Mexico was trying to return them to their countries of origin. “There will be no repressive measures,” she said.
According to some local media outlets, officials in the southern state of Chiapas turned back migrants who tried to join the group this week. Mexico’s National Migration Institute and the Chiapas state government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin backed Trump’s warning. “This illegal migrant caravan will NOT BE ALLOWED to enter our country. Period,” he wrote on social media.
Tariff threat comes amid trade talks
Trump’s threat came as Washington and Mexico City were negotiating a new trade agreement. In July, Trump decided not to extend the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies have largely halted the flow of migrants to the U.S. southern border, leaving many shelters in Mexico empty.
The border issue helped Trump win a second presidential term in 2024. In recent months, however, he has said the issue has lost some of its political impact for him and the Republicans.
After the midterm elections held on November 3, Trump told reporters he was confident that Texas’ newly elected Democratic governor, Gina Hinojosa, “will want to ensure security at the Texas border.”
Trump has also acknowledged growing political opposition to his administration’s deportation program. In an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday, he said deportation forces had acted “too harshly” and said he was open to reaching an immigration agreement with Democrats after they take control of Congress.
