Mexico worried by U.S. plan to separate mothers and kids: foreign ministry

Record ID: 394019

  • Title: Mexico worried by U.S. plan to separate mothers and kids: foreign ministry
  • Date: 7th March 2017
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (MARCH 7, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS EXTERIOR OF FOREIGN MINISTRY FOREIGN MINISTER LUIS VIDEGARAY WALKING IN CORRIDOR WITH COLLEAGUES VIDEGARAY SITTING DOWN AHEAD OF NEWS CONFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHERS VIDEGARAY DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FOREIGN MINISTER, LUIS VIDEGARAY, SAYING: "To separate families
  • Embargoed: 21st March 2017 19:40
  • Keywords: Luis Videgaray Donald Trump wall migrant mothers
  • Location: MEXICO CITY +| IXTEPEC, OAXACA + SAN LUIS POTOSI + CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO
  • City: MEXICO CITY +| IXTEPEC, OAXACA + SAN LUIS POTOSI + CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA00166YPKXZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Mexico is concerned by a U.S. government proposal to separate migrant mothers and children at the southern U.S. border, the country's foreign minister said on Tuesday (March 7), while recognizing that at this stage, it was only a possibility.
    Luis Videgaray also said the Mexican government was helping deportees from the United States to retain their U.S. assets.
    U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Monday (March 6) confirmed a Reuters report that he was considering a proposal to separate women and children who cross the U.S. border with Mexico illegally, a policy shift he said was aimed at deterring people from making a dangerous journey.
    Kelly was asked in a CNN interview about the proposal, first reported by Reuters on Friday, in which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would change U.S. policy and keep parents in custody while putting children in the care of the Health and Human Services Department.
    "To separate families the moment they enter the United States. Firstly, I want to emphasize that this is not a definitive announcement, it's something that has been made known as a possibility. We have immediately let Homeland Security know about our serious concern, that this should occur," Videgaray told a news conference.
    "About the concern that this would mean, due to the irreversible damage that a situation like this can cause in the heart of many Mexican families that are in these circumstances and we hope that the opinion of the Mexican government affects the decision that finally is made by the government of the United States regarding this possibility that has been announced in a worrying way," he added.
    The proposal, which has not yet been approved, would also affect Central Americans, who cross mostly as a family unit into the United States.
    Concern over this and other provisions by President Donald Trump's administration has also been reflected in an increase in requests for legal advice in Mexico's more than 50 consulates in the United States.
    "Issuing correct information and secondly, the migration diagnosis, that is to say there are Mexicans who do not know for sure what their condition is and they are approaching the consulates so that there, in an agile way, a diagnosis is made so they can get a specific recommendation on how to approach their situation and how to proceed to give them the legal defence, give them a lawyer," Videgaray added.
    Videgaray said Mexican officials are looking at ways to ensure that the assets of undocumented immigrants being deported to Mexico are not lost.
    Currently, if a person is deported he loses the possibility of accessing assets, such as his bank accounts in the United States, therefore many end up in shelters or in the streets of border cities where, in some areas, violence is high.
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