Mexican Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval revealed the country has deployed just under 15,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to help stop migrants from crossing.
Sandoval revealed the numbers in a press conference with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
“We have a total deployment, between the National Guard and army units, of 14,000, almost 15,000 men in the north of the country,” Sandoval said, according to Yahoo News.
“Given that [undocumented] migration is not a crime but rather an administrative violation, we simply detain them and turn them over to the authorities,” he added.
Al ser cuestionado sobre el despliegue de la Guardia Nacional, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, secretario de la Defensa Nacional, explicó que del total de los 6 mil 500 elementos, 2 mil cubren la frontera sur para trabajar en coordinación con el @INAMI_mx. pic.twitter.com/qWt9wFF4MJ
— El Financiero TV (@ElFinancieroTv) June 24, 2019
Trump threatened to impose a 5% tariff on all goods from Mexico “until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP,” saying Mexico needed to do more to help stop the flow of migrants.
“Mexico’s passive cooperation in allowing this mass incursion constitutes an emergency and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States. Mexico has very strong immigration laws and could easily halt the illegal flow of migrants, including by returning them to their home countries. Additionally, Mexico could quickly and easily stop illegal aliens from coming through its southern border with Guatemala,” Trump explained in a statement released by the White House.
