Mexican President says he respects US decision to sent troops to border
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday Mexico respects the US government's decision to deploy troops to help secure the US-Mexico border.
“It's part of their faculties. It is an independent and sovereign country,” Lopez Obrador added during his daily morning news conference.
The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s administration would send additional 1,500 troops to help secure the border with Mexico, in preparation for a possible rise in illegal immigration when Covid-19 border restrictions lift later this month.
The 90-day deployment of active-duty troops will supplement the work of the US Border Patrol but not carry out law enforcement duties, Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder said in a statement. They will conduct ground-based monitoring, data entry and warehouse support to free up border agents and "fill critical capability gaps," Ryder said.
The force will be in addition to the ongoing deployment of about 2,500 National Guard troops.
The so-called Title 42 restrictions, set to end on May 11, allow US authorities to rapidly expel non-Mexican migrants to Mexico without the chance to seek asylum.
US military troops have been used to help secure the border during previous presidential administrations, including Republican George W. Bush, Democrat Barack Obama and Trump, who deployed thousands of active-duty and National Guard troops.
Reuters
