Mexico denies US military flight to deport immigrants

(CLO) The Mexican government has rejected a request from the Trump administration to allow a US military plane to land to deport immigrants, according to US and Mexican officials.

Two previous US military flights, each carrying about 80 migrants, landed successfully in Guatemala on Friday, according to reports. However, a plan to use a C-17 military transport plane to land in Mexico was rejected by the country.

Deportees board a plane to return home. Photo: X / darrengrimes_

Officials from both the US and Mexico confirmed the decision. Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said Friday evening that the country has “very good relations” with the US and is ready to cooperate on immigration.

“When it comes to repatriation, we are always ready to welcome Mexican citizens back to their homeland with open arms,” a statement from Mexico's Foreign Ministry said.

Mexican officials did not give a reason for refusing to let the US plane land, and the State Department did not mention the incident in its statement.

This week, the Trump administration announced the relaunch of the “Remain in Mexico” program, which requires non-Mexican asylum seekers to remain in Mexico until their asylum claims are processed in the United States.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that any such move would require Mexico's consent, and that the country had not yet agreed to the plan.

Relations between the United States and Mexico have been increasingly strained since Trump declared a national emergency on the first day of his second term. He has so far deployed 1,500 additional US troops to the border, with thousands more expected to be deployed in the coming days.

President Trump has also declared Mexican drug cartels a terrorist organization, renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” and threatened to impose a 25% tariff on all goods imported from Mexico in February.

While Mexican President Sheinbaum has tried to avoid escalating tensions and is willing to accept deported Mexican citizens, she has expressed opposition to mass deportations and stressed the importance of Mexican immigrant workers to the U.S. economy.

The Pentagon said the US military will continue to provide flights to deport more than 5,000 immigrants currently detained in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California.

Cao Phong (according to NBC, NYP, USN)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/mexico-tu-choi-chuyen-bay-quan-su-my-truc-xuat-nguoi-nhap-cu-post331964.html