USA-ELECTION/TRUMP-MEXICO Trump's 'drugs and rapists' comments draws ire from Mexican government

Record ID: 151541

  • Title: USA-ELECTION/TRUMP-MEXICO Trump's 'drugs and rapists' comments draws ire from Mexican government
  • Date: 17th June 2015
  • Summary: ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** TRUMP ON PODIUM THANKING AUDIENCE AND BEING GREETED BY FAMILY
  • Embargoed: 2nd July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAEV1755PT25TQCAANUCOA23RU7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Mexico's foreign minister on Tuesday (June 17) criticised inflammatory comments from Republican U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump which described Mexican migrants as drug-runners and rapists.
    In his speech, Trump said Mexico was not a friend of the United States and pledged to build "a great, great wall on our southern border," adding that he would ensure that Mexico pay for it.
    But speaking in the Mexican capital, Mexico's Foreign Jose Antonio Meade dismissed the attack, as many have done in Trump's country.
    "He's (Trump) a politician who doesn't know reality, who doesn't even know the (presidential) contest he is participating in, and that's why he's being well-received. It appears they (other candidates) have a view which is closer (to ours), that the benefits from emigration has the (same value) that the country that receives them. We hope that this electoral process in the United States brings forth a candidate who is aware of the statistics on the value of migrants and not a candidate who reflects ignorance and prejudice." said Meade.
    Although widely seen as having little chance of winning the nomination, Trump's provocative comments will certainly enliven proceedings as he joins an unusually large group of Republicans vying for the presidency.
    "When do we beat Mexico at the border? They're laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they're beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me, but they're killing us economically," he declared.
    "And these are the best and the finest. When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you; they're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people but I speak to border guards and they tell us what we're getting and it only makes common sense, it only makes common sense: they're sending us not the right people. It's coming from more than Mexico. It's coming from all over South and Latin America and it's coming probably, probably from the Middle East," added the real estate magnate.
    An estimated 11.2 million illegal immigrants, more than half of them from Mexico, live and work in the shadows in the United States. The issue of what to do with them has become a hot-button issue in the United States in recent years.
    Democratic President Barack Obama promised to deliver comprehensive immigration reform, tightening security on the Mexico border while offering millions of illegal immigrants who learn English, pay a fine the chance to become citizens, but he has so far failed to deliver.
    However, the Republican party has traditionally supported tough border enforcement.
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