“This is the ruling by the court, it’s a U.S. issue, and obviously we don’t agree with it, we have a different policy,” Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told a news conference.
The court’s move comes at a delicate time for Mexican-U.S. relations. Under U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of imposing tariffs, Mexico has agreed to house many of the surging number of Central American asylum-seekers south of the border pending their U.S. hearings.
That gesture has led to a decline in U.S. apprehensions and rejections of migrants at the border, which totaled 64,000 people in August, down 22% from July and 56% from a high mark in May.
Even though arrests are still at their highest for any month of August since 2007, the decline from earlier this year won Mexico praise from Trump following a White House meeting on Tuesday.
But Mexico has resisted U.S. pressure to sign a formal “safe third country”
” agreement that would commit it to hearing the asylum cases of migrants from Central American and elsewhere, a move that would take even more pressure off the U.S. border.
“This can’t come about from a court ruling by another country. It’s an agreement between two or more countries,” Ebrard said, referring to a safe third country agreement. “Mexico won’t accept it under any circumstances.”
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