After a press conference with NATO’s secretary general, President Trump made two claims about Mexico’s immigration policies. (Joy Yi/The Washington Post)
“Mexico, as you know, as of yesterday, has been starting to apprehend a lot of people at their southern border coming in from Honduras and Guatemala and El Salvador. And they’ve — they’re really apprehending thousands of people. And it’s the first time, really, in decades that this has taken place. And it should have taken place a long time ago. You know, Mexico has the strongest immigration laws in the world. There’s nobody who has stronger. I guess some have the same, but you can’t get any stronger than what Mexico has.”
— President Trump, in remarks at the Oval Office, April 2, 2019
“After many years (decades), Mexico is apprehending large numbers of people at their Southern Border, mostly from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.”
— Trump, in a tweet, April 2, 2019
Trump says Mexico began to detain thousands of Central American migrants at its southern border only this week. Let’s not beat around the bush here — that’s totally false. They’ve been doing it for decades
The president also claims Mexico has the strongest immigration laws in the world. Experts sharply disagree. Mexico does have penalties for immigration violations, but it decriminalized the act of crossing the border in 2011. Contrast that with the United States — where unauthorized entry is a misdemeanor for first-time offenders and a felony for repeat offenders — and Trump’s claim falls apart.
The Facts
The claim that Mexico only this week started to detain thousands of Central Americans at its southern border is nonsense. Mexican immigration officials had 886,640 encounters with Guatemalans, Hondurans and Salvadorans from 2011 through February, according to data from Mexico’s Department of the Interior (SEGOB).
View the complete April 4 article by Salvador Rizzo on The Washington Post website here.