In response to the Trump administration 's decision to withdraw the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council , Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray Caso posted a press release on June 20 sharing Mexico's thoughts on the U.S.'s withdrawal.

“Mexico’s government laments the United States of America’s decision to no longer participate in the United Nations Human Rights Council,” the release reads . It continued by acknowledging the need to participate in the council now more than ever, since there is a challenge in protecting the human rights of everyone, “in particular of groups in situations of vulnerability, such as children and adolescents , people with disabilities, migrants, indigenous communities, and LGBTI persons , among others.”

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the decision to leave the council on June 19, calling the organization "a protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias." The release from Caso came on the same day Trump reversed course on the new policy of separating parents and children after they crossed the border; that policy took effect because of the administration’s zero-tolerance policy , which resulted in prosecutions for all border crossers.

Although the U.S. decided to withdraw, Mexico’s government believes the U.S. is still responsible for complying with its international obligations, like every other country. “The Mexican government is convinced that multilateralism is the best way to face global challenges, and that today more than ever it is fundamental to defend and strengthen the institutions that countries have built to have spaces of convergence and mutual understanding,” Caso stated in the press release.

Determined to continue the mission behind the Human Rights Council, regardless of the U.S.'s withdrawal, Mexico said it will continue to be an active member of the council.

"Without prejudice to the determination of the government of the United States, its departure from the Council does not exempt it from complying with its international obligations regarding the promotion and protection of human rights, like any other State," the statement said. "The Mexican government is convinced that multilateralism is the best way to face global challenges, and that today more than ever it is fundamental to defend and strengthen the institutions that countries have built to have spaces of convergence and mutual understanding."

Some consider asylum to be a human right, and Amnesty International notes that many asylum seekers are fleeing human rights violations against them. Trump administration officials had discussed using family separation as a way to discourage asylum seekers prior to the policy's taking effect.

According to Human Rights Watch, both Mexico and the U.S. have blemishes on their human rights records. Both nations have issues with abuses in their criminal justice systems and with codifying LGBTQ rights under the law. Just last year, according to Human Rights Watch , the U.N. Committee on Migrant Workers called on Mexico to “only use the detention of migrants as a measure of last resort” and to “immediately put an end to” the practice of detaining migrant children.

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Want more from Teen Vogue ? Check this out: 5 Reasons Activists Are Calling for the Abolition of ICE </s> MEXICO CITY: Mexico will not accept new "unilateral" U.S. immigration proposals, and will not hesitate in approaching the United Nations to defend immigrants, the country's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said on Wednesday, ahead of a meeting with senior U.S. officials.

Videgaray said the new U.S. proposals would be the main point of discussion for upcoming meetings, which will take place between Mexican officials, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Wednesday and Thursday. </s> Only hours before a two-day visit to Mexico by the U.S. secretary of state and head of the Homeland Security, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said Wednesday that Mexico "will not accept" the unilateral imposition of U.S. immigration proposals, according to media reports.

The foreign minister also said he would not hesitate to take the issue to the United Nations to defend what he called the rights of immigrants, Reuters reports.

His comments followed the release of new directives by the Department of Homeland Security aimed at increasing deportations among the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants.

Under the new guidelines, all federal immigration officers can now conduct an "expedited removal" anywhere in the U.S. against people who arrived in the U.S. in the previous two years.

One critical part of the new directives, which would require Mexican cooperation, says federal immigration officials can send those undocumented immigrants back to Mexico, even if they're not from there.

Many of the undocumented immigrants in recent years have come from Central America and travelled through Mexico to reach the U.S. border.

Videgaray said the new U.S. proposals would be the main focus of talks Wednesday and Thursday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of DHS John Kelly.

“I want to make it clear in the most emphatic way that the government of Mexico and the people of Mexico do not have to accept provisions that one government wants to unilaterally impose on another,” Videgaray said, according to Univision. “We will not accept that because we have no reason to; it is not in the interest of the Mexico.”

The immigration issue has caused increasing strain between Mexico and the U.S., particularly over President Trump's pledge to build a border wall and make Mexico pay for it. The fallout over the issue led Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to cancel a trip to the U.S. recently.

In Washington, White House spokesman Sean Spicer, in response to question about immigration, was asked Wednesday Tillerson and Kelly were on a cleanup mission with Mexico.

“I would argue that we have a very healthy and robust relationship with the Mexican government and Mexican officials," Spicer said. "I think they would echo that same sentiment. I think the relationship with Mexico is phenomenal right now. I believe there’s an unbelievable and robust dialogue between our two nations.”

nder the Obama administration, a process known as an "expedited removal" was used mostly along the southwest border. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrols agents were able to quickly deport undocumented immigrants caught within 100 miles of the border who had arrived in the U.S. in the previous two weeks.

Most undocumented immigrants caught entering the country have been placed in detention or released on bond while their deportation cases proceeded. That practice, dubbed "catch and release," led to many undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. and skipping out on their court cases.

Under the new guidelines, people caught entering the country will be placed in jail while their deportation cases are processed. Homeland Security plans to hire 10,000 ICE agents and build new detention facilities along the southwest border, and more immigration judges and staff will be hired to speed up cases. </s> Mexico has condemned new guidelines issued by the United States on deporting undocumented immigrants.

Under plans unveiled by the Trump administration on Tuesday, almost all people staying in the US illegally can be subject to deportation.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said his country could not "accept unilateral decisions imposed by one government on another."

The row comes as two top US officials are preparing to visit Mexico.

The White House said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the head of Homeland Security, John Kelly, would talk to Mexican officials and "walk through" the implementation of the new immigration guidelines.

They include plans to enforce an existing provision of the US Immigration and Nationality Act that allows authorities to send undocumented migrants back to Mexico, regardless of where they are from.

It is unclear whether the US has authority to force Mexico to accept foreigners.

But Mr Videgaray said on Wednesday: "We are not going to accept that because we don't have to and it is not in the interest of Mexico."

Mr Videgaray also warned the US about treatment of Mexican citizens.

"The Mexican government will not hesitate in going to international organisations, starting with the United Nations, to defend human rights, liberties and due process for Mexicans abroad according to international law."

Mr Tillerson and Mr Kelly were scheduled to discuss a range of issues with President Enrique Pena Nieto on Thursday, but Mr Videgaray said the new changes to policy would now dominate the discussion.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Wednesday that he expected a "great discussion".

Read more from BBC News on the Trump administration and immigration:
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An estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the US, many of them from Mexico. President Donald Trump made immigration and border control a key part of his campaign.

The new priorities are broad enough to apply to almost any illegal immigrant, including anyone who has been charged with a crime, misrepresented themselves, poses a risk to public safety, or "have abused any program related to receipt of public benefits".

The new guidelines also allow Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport people immediately.

Expedited deportations can now be used against undocumented immigrants who are unable to prove they have been in the country for more than two years, anywhere in the US.

Previously, expedited removals were applied to people who had been in the country for less than two weeks and were within 100 miles of the border. </s> Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray calls on US to respect rights of Mexicans and urges path to citizenship for migrants.

Mexico has opened legal aid centres at its 50 consulates across the United States to defend its citizens amid worries of a crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

The centres will provide free legal assistance to Mexican citizens who feel that their rights in the US are being threatened.

On Saturday, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray called on the US government to respect the rights of Mexicans, and urged the US to allow a path to legality for those without documents.

"We are not promoting illegality," Videgaray said in a video of an event at the Mexican consulate in New York provided by the foreign ministry.

He said Mexico's government wants its citizens in the US to follow the law but it also advocates the respect of human rights.

"Today we are facing a situation that can paradoxically represent an opportunity, when suddenly a government wants to apply the law more severely," Videgaray said.

"It is becoming more than evident that to apply the law, which is the obligation of any state, it would also imply a real economic damage to this country which highlights the need for an immigration reform that resolves once and for all the legal status of the people," Videgaray said.

Mexico is worried about the impact that guidelines issued last month by President Donald Trump will have on the lives of its citizens.

During his first month in office, Trump issued orders to initiate tougher deportation procedures, following up on campaign to build a wall on the US-Mexico border, and crackdown on illegal migration.

The Pew Research Center estimates there are nearly six million undocumented Mexicans are living in the US.

In lateFebruary, Videgaray expressed "worry and irritation" about Trump's new policies to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security chief John Kelly when they visited Mexico for talks on immigration and security.

Diplomatic relations between the neighbouring countries have deteriorated after Trump declared his plan to build the wall, the construction of which, he said, will be paid by Mexico.

The remarks prompted President Enrique Pena Nieto to cancel a visit to Washington on January 31 and to announce extra funding to protect the rights of Mexican citizens in the US. </s> Mexico has indicated it would not accept the Trump administration’s new US immigration proposals, saying it would go to the United Nations to defend the rights of immigrants in the US.



Luis Videgaray, Mexico’s foreign minister, was responding to Donald Trump’s plans to enforce immigration rules more vigorously against undocumented migrants, which could potentially lead to mass deportations to Mexico, not just of Mexicans but also citizens of other Latin American countries.

“We are not going to accept it because we don’t have to accept it,” Videgaray said, according to the Reforma newspaper. “I want to make clear, in the most emphatic way, that the government of Mexico and the Mexican people do not have to accept measures that one government wants to unilaterally impose on another.”

The sweeping measures were announced in Washington on the eve of a visit to Mexico by the US secretaries of state and homeland security that had been aimed at salvaging bilateral relations, currently at their lowest point in at least three decades.

Rex Tillerson and John Kelly are seeking to soothe Mexican fears in the wake of Trump’s new executive orders, the construction of a border wall that he insists Mexico be made to pay for, and his threat to unpick the 1994 Nafta free trade agreement that underpins the Mexican economy.

On Thursday, the two men, a former oil executive and a retired general, will meet the Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto, who abruptly cancelled a trip to Washington at the end of January after Trump sent out a tweet suggesting it was better not to come “if Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall”.

Since then, Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and closest foreign policy adviser, has reportedly worked behind the scenes to limit the damage, helping broker a placatory phone conversation between the presidents on 27 January, and attending a meeting on 8 February in Washington between Tillerson and his Mexican counterpart Videgaray, according to the Washington Post.

Kushner and Videgaray, who is Peña Nieto’s closest political adviser, were introduced by mutual friends in the business world, and their personal relationship has helped prevent an escalating war of words between the two capitals, diplomats said.

Videgaray has placed high stakes on the visit. “This is a moment of definition: The decisions we make in the coming months will determine how Mexico and the United States coexist for the next decades,” he was quoted as saying at the G20 meeting in Bonn last week by the Los Angeles Times.

But Mexican observers worry that the relationship with Kushner, who is 36 years old and has no previous foreign policy experience, is a thin reed on which to try to rebuild a profoundly damaged bilateral relationship.

“I don’t know if there is a strategy and if there is a strategy, the strategy is a person,” said Carlos Heredia, professor at the Centre for Research and Teaching in Economics in Mexico City.

The US state department referred questions about Kushner’s role to the White House, which did not respond.

“This is indeed a low point in US-Mexico relations, representing an abrupt break from the last 30-plus years of cooperation,” said Shannon O’Neil, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of a book on US-Mexican relations. “While the visit will go some way to smoothing bilateral discussions, there is a hard-earned trust that has been broken, and that can’t be repaired with just a high-level visit.”

O’Neil added: “The Trump administration’s hostile beginning has also shifted Mexico’s domestic politics. Rising nationalism there will make compromises with the United States all the harder as Mexico looks toward its own 2018 presidential race.”

Tens of thousands of migrants – mostly from Central America, but increasingly from further afield – transit Mexico annually in attempts to reach the US border. Mexico has turned enforcer, imposing the Southern Border plan in 2014 to detain and deport migrants transiting Mexican territory, even as it doggedly defends its own nationals at risk of deportation in the United States.

In recent interviews, the economy minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, has raised the possibility of Mexico suspending cooperation on migrant enforcement. He told news channel Milenio: “There would be no incentive to continue collaborating on important issues for North American security such as migration issues” if Nafta is abandoned.

Brandon Capece, a research fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs in Washington, said the state of bilateral relations was at its lowest point since the 1980s when the two countries were locked in ideological differences over foreign policy and before the signing of Nafta in 1994 made them economic partners, with more than $1.5bn in trade crossing the border each day.

“Even renegotiating Nafta is something that can be mutually beneficial for all three nations involved, but only if Trump can move beyond his misperceived notion that the United States is somehow the victim in this relationship,” Capece said. “That being said, given the failure of the Trump administration to articulate a clear foreign policy and their reluctance to rely on experts within the Washington foreign policy establishment, it is unlikely that this trip in and of itself will calm nerves in either Washington or Mexico City.” </s> MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico reacted with anger on Wednesday to what one official called "hostile" new U.S. immigration guidelines hours before senior Trump administration envoys began arriving in Mexico City for talks on the volatile issue.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security unveiled plans on Tuesday to consider almost all illegal immigrants subject to deportation, and will seek to send many of them to Mexico if they entered the United States from there, regardless of nationality.

The tension over the timing of the rules mirrors an outcry when President Donald Trump said on Twitter Mexico should pay for his planned border wall shortly before Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was due at a Washington summit in January.

However, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in Washington U.S.-Mexico ties were "phenomenal right now" and that he expected a "great discussion." Other senior officials also put on a brave face, telling reporters the trip was aimed at building a close working relationship.

Trump, who took office last month, campaigned on a pledge to get tougher on the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, playing on fears of violent crime while promising to build the wall and stop potential terrorists from entering the country.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson landed in Mexico City on Wednesday afternoon. He was joined by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly later for talks the White House said would "walk through" the implementation of Trump's immigration orders.

Kelly signed the guidelines issued by his department on Monday.

Mexico's lead negotiator with the Trump administration, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, said there was no way Mexico would accept the new rules, which among other things seek to deport non-Mexicans to Mexico.

"I want to say clearly and emphatically that the government of Mexico and the Mexican people do not have to accept provisions that one government unilaterally wants to impose on the other," Videgaray told reporters at the Foreign Ministry.

He said the issue would dominate the talks on Wednesday and Thursday. Mexico will insist that the United States proves the nationality of any person it wants to deport to Mexico, he said.

"We also have control of our borders and we will exercise it fully," he said, adding that Mexico was prepared to go the United Nations to defend the freedoms and rights of Mexicans under international law.

Roberto Campa, who heads the human rights department of the Interior Ministry, said the plan to deport non-Mexicans to Mexico was "hostile" and "unacceptable."

Senators for the leading leftist opposition party, the Party of the Democratic Revolution, said Tillerson and Kelly were not welcome in Mexico and they urged Pena Nieto not to meet them.

Another potential point of friction is a review ordered by Trump of the U.S. aid Mexico receives, dominated by $2.6 billion allocated largely for security under the Merida Initiative. Some believe the order carries a threat of cutting off such support.

Homeland Security's guidance to immigration agents is part of a broader border security and immigration enforcement plan in executive orders that Trump signed on Jan. 25.

In Guatemala on Wednesday, Kelly denied the administration was embarking on mass deportations.

Jason Marczak, director of the Atlantic Council's Latin America Economic Growth Initiative, said the Republican president appeared to have timed the unveiling of deportation measures as a negotiating tactic aimed at unsettling Mexico.

Trump was "carving out more extreme positions to be able to then negotiate a compromise solution," Marczak said.

Mexico's agenda at the talks on Thursday includes border infrastructure, deportation strategies, Central American migration, narcotics, arms trafficking and terrorism, as well as the North American Free Trade Agreement, a senior official with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Two senior Trump administration officials said the agenda included ways to tackle heroin production and strengthening Mexico's southern border. </s> A Mexican who was recently deported from the U.S. walks by the Tijuana river, in Tijuana, Mexico, February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

Mexico opened legal aid centers at its 50 consulates across the United States on Saturday to defend its citizens, the Mexican government said, amid worries of a crackdown on illegal immigration under U.S. President Donald Trump.

Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray exhorted the U.S. government to respect the rights of Mexicans and called for the United States to allow a path to legality for undocumented migrants.

“We are not promoting illegality,” Videgaray said, according to a video of an event at the Mexican consulate in New York provided by the foreign ministry, saying that Mexico supported following the law, but that means respecting human rights.

Trump has issued orders to initiate tougher deportation procedures during his first month in office, following up on campaign vows to fight illegal immigration and to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Today we are facing a situation that can paradoxically represent an opportunity, when suddenly a government wants to apply the law more severely,” Videgaray said.

“It is becoming more than evident that to apply the law, which is the obligation of any state, would also imply a real economic damage to this country which highlights the need for immigration reform, an immigration reform that resolves once and for all the legal status of the people,” Videgaray said.

The Pew Research Center estimates there are nearly 6 million undocumented Mexicans living in the United States.

Late last month, Videgaray expressed “worry and irritation” about Trump’s new policies to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security chief John Kelly when they visited Mexico for talks on immigration and security. </s> Mexico's mounting unease and resentment over President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown are looming over a gathering of U.S. and Mexican leaders Thursday that the U.S. had hoped would project a strong future for relations between neighbors.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly were meeting with their Mexican counterparts in Mexico City before they were supposed to sit down with Mexican President Pena Nieto. But a top Mexican official suggested the meeting with Pena Nieto, announced days in advance by the U.S., might not take place after all.

"It all depends on the agreements that they arrive at," Mexico's Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo said on a morning news show. "It all depends on the outcome and if there are important and positive things or very clear messages that need to be conveyed through these emissaries"

Even Trump, whose White House has insisted relations with Mexico are "phenomenal," acknowledged he'd sent his top diplomat to Mexico on a "tough trip."

"We have to be treated fairly by Mexico," Trump said Thursday during a meeting with manufacturing CEOs.

There is no shortage of tension points. After all, it's Kelly who's tasked with executing Trump's plan to target millions for possible deportation, and Tillerson who must explain it to the rest of the world.

As the pair arrived in Mexico City, the two countries seemed much farther apart than their close geographical proximity would suggest.

"I think Secretary Tillerson and Secretary Kelly are going to have a great discussion down there," said White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

But while Spicer said the officials would "talk through the implementation of the executive order," Mexico made clear it intended to do nothing of the sort.

"I want to say clearly and most emphatically that the Mexican government and the Mexican people have no reason to accept unilateral decisions imposed by one government on another," said Mexico's foreign relations secretary, Luis Videgaray. "We are not going to accept that, because we don't have to."

Videgaray added a cryptic but pointed warning that Mexico wouldn't hesitate to challenge the U.S. move at the United Nations or other global venues.

The visiting Americans planned to meet Thursday with Videgaray before a working lunch with Mexican officials and a formal meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

The worsening rift over deportations and illegal immigration adds to an array of disputes that have sent U.S.-Mexico relations plunging since Trump took office a month ago. Trump's insistence that Mexico pay billions for a border wall led Pena Nieto to cancel a planned Washington visit. Mexican officials are also apprehensive over Trump's pledge to overhaul the trade relationship and possible apply steep taxes to Mexican products, a move with profound impacts for Mexico's export-heavy economy.

New immigration enforcement memos signed by Kelly this week call for sending some immigrants who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally back into Mexico — even those from third countries who have no connection to Mexico. The memos also prioritize deportation for anyone charged or convicted of any crime, rather than just serious crimes, potentially subjecting millions in the U.S. illegally to deportation, including many Mexicans.

Those policies have raised fears in Mexico about the possibility of deportee and refugee camps emerging along Mexico's northern border. Mexican officials are also likely to seek answers about whether a forthcoming report ordered by Trump's administration that will list all current U.S. aid to Mexico is intended to threaten Mexico into compliance over immigration or the wall.

In a sign of how Trump's hard line is reverberating in Mexico, local media amplified Videgaray's forceful comments as Trump's envoys arrived in Mexico City, with combative headlines invoking a "long battle with the U.S." Meanwhile, in Washington, six Democratic senators dismayed by the deteriorating relations urged Tillerson and Kelly in a letter Thursday to strike a more cooperative tone than Trump.

Kelly arrived in the Mexican capital from Guatemala on a visit intended to deter Guatemalans from trying to enter the U.S. illegally. Though Kelly promised "there will be no mass roundups," he acknowledged that those caught will be removed from the U.S. much more quickly than in the past.

"My best advice is to not do it," he said.
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Caso rejects and condemns the United States's new plan on deporting undocumented immigrants, stating that Mexico cannot "accept unilateral decisions imposed by one government on another."