Mexico’s ambassador to Washington has said that “there are people that have criminal backgrounds” in the migrant caravan, lending weight to President Trump’s assertion that it presents a threat to the United States.
Geronimo Gutierrez told the Washington Examiner that while there were criminal elements in the caravan, he could not put a number on how many there might be. A Department of Homeland Security official reportedly said on Monday the department estimates that there are more than 500 criminals traveling in the caravan heading toward the U.S.
The Washington Examiner asked Gutierrez if that number was consistent with his information. He responded: “What I can tell you is that we, you know, work together very closely with the United States through different mechanisms to look at people that are moving through our region and I think that’s positive because it allows us to identify individuals that might have a criminal background.”
Gutierrez was speaking after a discussion on Tuesday at the Brookings Institution titled, “Trade and borders: A reset for U.S.-Mexico relations in the Trump era?”
“I think that those numbers, precisely, were, I don’t know exactly where those numbers are coming from but I do know we have strong cooperation with the United States to identify people that have criminal records that are coming into our region, and that just makes sense, and that’s an example of the good cooperation that Mexico and the United States have,” he added.
“I don’t know where that number of 500 – I’m skeptical about it,” Gutierrez said. “I mean, we share the opinion that there are people that have criminal backgrounds in that group and yes, the numbers I cannot comment because the numbers are, I just don’t think there’s enough clarify about what those numbers come from.”
Last week, video surfaced of migrants, who are reportedly part of the caravan, attempting to jump over the border fence. President Trump has referred to the caravan as an invasion.
[Read more: Trump tweets photo of wire fence at US border: ‘No climbers anymore under our Administration!’]
Gutierrez was asked if he agreed with Trump’s categorization of the caravan. “I wouldn’t categorize that as an invasion. I think, nevertheless, there’s a lot of concern and I can understand why the president and other people here are concerned about what is going on,” Gutiérrez replied.
“I think that it just points to the fact that there’s a very significant need to address legal changes here in the immigration system and certainly also in Mexico. And I think that it’s important, my focus is on having improved cooperation between Mexico and the United States and the Central American countries to address regional migration.”
During the discussion, Gutierrez told the audience that the U.S. and Mexico “are not quite there” when it comes to “achieving a favorable status quo,” but “we are in better shape, I think, in the overall bilateral relationship than where we were two years ago.”
