Best views, weather, etc. How to test them 👓 SC, Ala. sites look back Betty Ford honored
NEWS
Rex Tillerson

Trump says deportations a 'military operation;' Homeland chief says no

David Agren
Special for USA TODAY

MEXICO CITY —  President Trump said Thursday his plan to deport undocumented immigrants is a "military operation," a comment that seemed to undercut Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly's assurances that there would be "no mass deportations" or use of the U.S. military in immigration enforcement plans.

Trump made the remark while meeting with business officials at the White House.

"We're getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a rate that nobody's ever seen before," the president said. "And they're the bad ones. And it's a military operation."

Speaking in the Mexican capital, Kelly addressed an anxious audience of Mexican migrants living in the USA and Mexican officials preparing to receive an influx of deportees.

“There will be no use of military forces in immigration,” Kelly said. “There will be no — repeat, no — mass deportations.”

The Homeland Security chief said all immigration enforcement, including deportations, would follow the law. 

"Everything that we do will be done in a legal way and with respect for human rights and the U.S. justice system," Kelly said.

He said, “The focus of deportations will be people with criminal records, and everything will be done always in close cooperation with the Mexican government.”

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said later Thursday that Trump used the word military "as an adjective," describing the "precision" with which deportation operations were being carried out.

Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson traveled to meet with their Mexican counterparts, as well as President Enrique Peña Nieto.

Protesters of the Trump administration's immigration policies chant across the street from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol station Feb. 22 in McAllen, Texas.

Tillerson said at a news conference that the two nations "from time to time will have differences," but the two sides raise them "respectfully and patiently." 

That is in sharp contrast to the blunt warning Mexico's foreign minister issued Wednesday, when he said his country would not allow the United States to dictate policy on deporting undocumented immigrants to Mexico.

Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, responding to tougher immigration enforcement plans unveiled by Kelly on Tuesday, said Mexico would doggedly defend its migrants living in the USA and take its case to the United Nations if necessary.

Videgaray rejected the U.S. plan for Mexico to take non-Mexicans expelled from the USA. Many are Central Americans entering the USA through Mexico. Wednesday Kelly modified the U.S. position by saying in Guatemala that the United States would send deportees back to their countries of origin.

He repeated that Thursday, calling the move, “a government decision that unilaterally affects another.” Videgaray, standing near Tillerson, avoided any direct attacks on his U.S. counterpart. He acknowledged "our concern to respect the rights of Mexicans living in the U.S." and said they would face the topic with continued talks.

Read more:

Mexico says no to Trump's new deportation rules

Confusion mounts as immigrants react to Trump memos

5 ways Trump will increase deportations

Homeland Security unveils sweeping plan to deport undocumented immigrants

Peña Nieto had planned to visit Trump at the White House on Jan. 31 but canceled the trip after Trump tweeted that he shouldn't come unless he was prepared to discuss the U.S. president's plan to expand a wall along the two countries' border at Mexico's expense. Peña Nieto ruled out Mexico financing the construction.

Tillerson and Kelly arrived here Wednesday night and dined with Mexico’s secretaries of National Defense and the Navy at the U.S. ambassador’s residence.

Besides immigration, the two countries are at odds over the North American Free Trade Agreement — NAFTA — which has been an economic boon for Mexico.  Trump wants to renegotiate it because he says it has sent too many U.S. factories and jobs to lower-cost Mexico.

Also on the agenda is drugs, an issue where the two countries are more in sync. Mexico has waged a decade-long crackdown on drug cartels and organized crime that has cost about 200,000 lives. Government statistics showed January had the highest monthly murder rate in 20 years, and homicides climbed 38% compared with January 2016.

The United States and Mexico have cooperated closely over the past decade. The United States provided Mexico with material, technical and intelligence assistance that has led to the capture of cartel kingpins and the dismantling of many drug cartels.

Mexico helped deter the flow of undocumented immigrants into the USA, detaining and deporting more than 300,000 foreign nationals — mostly Central Americans — traveling through Mexico. Many Central Americans flee gang violence in countries that have some of the highest murder rates in the world.

In Guatemala, Kelly urged potential migrants to stay put, saying they would be detained and deported promptly if they tried to reach the USA.

Trump has touted an expanded border wall as a way of stopping illegal immigration. However, recent estimates show more Mexicans are returning to Mexico from the USA than entering the country.

Contributing: David Jackson in Washington

 

Featured Weekly Ad