Image copyright Reuters Image caption Thousands of migrants are now waiting at the border in Mexico

Mexico's incoming foreign minister has said discussions on how to deal with migrants travelling to the United States are continuing despite reports a deal has been reached.

Marcelo Ebrard denied reaching an agreement which would see asylum seekers waiting in Mexico while their claims were processed in US courts.

Mr Ebrard's words seem to contradict US President Donald Trump's latest tweet.

He said migrants would not be allowed entry until their claims were approved.

"Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court," Mr Trump wrote, adding: "No 'releasing' into the US. All will stay in Mexico."

The conflicting statements emerged after the Washington Post reported Mexican officials had agreed to let migrants trying to enter the US stay in Mexico while their asylum claims were heard.

According to the newspaper, the plan was called "Remain in Mexico".

But Mr Ebrard, who will become foreign minister in December after Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's administration takes power, said the US had yet to even send "a specific proposal" on how to deal with the issue.

He said conversations were still taking place with Washington.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption There are fears migrants could be stuck in temporary shelters for months

Incoming Interior Minister Olga Sanchez Cordero also told news agency Reuters no agreement had been reached - although the Washington Post article initially quoted her as saying it was a "short term solution" to deal with the migrant caravan.

Thousands of migrants - including women and children - are currently at the US-Mexico border after travelling more than 4,000km (2,500 miles) from Central America.

They say they are fleeing persecution, poverty and violence in their home countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

Many are now waiting in temporary shelters in the border city of Tijuana, leading the mayor declare a humanitarian crisis. There are fears as many as 9,000 may be stuck in the city for months.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump has deployed about 5,800 troops to the border and has previously described the migrants as an "invasion". </s> US President Donald Trump says asylum seekers have to wait in Mexico until claims approved, but Mexico denies making any deal

US President Donald Trump has said migrants at the US-Mexico border will stay in Mexico until their asylum claims are individually approved in US courts, but Mexico's incoming government has denied striking any deal.

Their comments came on the back of a report in The Washington Post, which claimed Mexico and the US had agreed on a deal named Remain in Mexico.

The plan, according to the newspaper, foresees thousands of migrants staying in Mexico while their asylum claims in the United States are being processed.

This could potentially end a system Mr Trump has decried as "catch and release" that has, until now, often allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer US soil.

But Mexico's incoming interior minister Olga Sanchez Cordero said there was "no agreement of any type between the future government of Mexico and the United States".

Ms Sanchez Cordero ruled out that Mexico would be declared a "safe third country" for asylum claimants.

If Mexico were to assume "safe third country" status, asylum seekers would be required to claim refugee status in Mexico rather than the United States, and activists have long argued Mexico does not have the security conditions to offer safe haven for Central American migrants fleeing poverty and violence.

Ms Sanchez Cordero, the top domestic policy official for president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador — who takes office on December 1 — said the incoming government was in talks with the United States.

But she said they could not make any agreement on the issue, since they are not yet in government.

Mr Trump is seeking to block thousands of Central Americans travelling in caravans from entering the United States, and has ordered that immigrants who enter the country illegally from Mexico are ineligible for asylum.

That order has been temporary suspended by a US judge.

During his Thanksgiving break, Mr Trump also threatened to close entry into the country from the southern border.

Managing attorney for the Los Angeles office of legal rights organisation Human Rights First, Jenna Gilbert, said Mr Trump's new plan is "outright illegal, and I'm sure the administration will once more see itself in court".

The Washington Post article cited Mexican officials and senior members of Mr Lopez Obrador's transition team.

It said the deal would break with long-standing asylum rules and mount a new obstacle for Central American migrants attempting to seek refuge in the United States.

Mexico's incoming deputy interior minister, Zoe Robledo, said details of the Remain in Mexico scheme were still being worked out.

"What we're aiming for is that people leaving their countries due to security issues or violence can find a place to stay in Mexico, if that is their decision," Ms Robledo said.

Ms Robledo said the incoming government wanted to find jobs for Central American migrants in sectors that are short-staffed, such as maquila assembly plants.

Mr Lopez Obrador has vowed to try to eliminate the causes of migration by creating more jobs and improving living conditions in Mexico and Central America.

In exchange, he hopes Mr Trump and the Canadian government will agree to help spur economic development in the region.

Outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto has also sought to stem the flow of migrants north by offering jobs to them, and has received backing from the private sector in his efforts. </s> CLOSE Migrants in a caravan of Central Americans have arrived by the hundreds in Tijuana, just south of San Diego. Many say they will seek asylum in the US. (Nov. 15) AP

Members of the 'migrant caravan' worship during a street worship service outside a temporary shelter set up for members of the caravan on November 23, 2018 in Tijuana, Mexico. Around 5,000 migrants from Central America have arrived in the city with the mayor of Tijuana declaring the situation a 'humanitarian crisis.'.. (Photo: Mario Tama, Getty Images)

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced over Twitter Saturday evening that asylum seekers at the Southern border will wait in Mexico while their claims are processed in U.S. courts.

"Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We only will allow those who come into our Country legally," the president wrote on Twitter Saturday evening. "All will stay in Mexico."

In his tweets, the president also threatened to close the Southern border "for any reason it becomes necessary."

"There is no way that the United States will, after decades of abuse, put up with this costly and dangerous situation anymore!" Trump wrote.

The president's tweets followed a Washington Post report Saturday that described a new agreement between the U.S. and Mexico that would allow asylum seekers to stay in Mexico.

Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We only will allow those who come into our Country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No “Releasing” into the U.S... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2018

....All will stay in Mexico. If for any reason it becomes necessary, we will CLOSE our Southern Border. There is no way that the United States will, after decades of abuse, put up with this costly and dangerous situation anymore! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2018

The Post, which quoted Mexican officials and senior members of President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s transition team, reported the agreement would break with long-standing asylum rules and place a "formidable new barrier" for migrants from Central America attempting to reach the United States.

The Post said the plan was dubbed "Remain in Mexico."

More: Homeland Security focuses on border security — not processing asylum applications from migrant caravan

More: Homeland Security focuses on border security — not processing asylum applications from migrant caravan

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Thousands of migrants, fleeing violence and poverty, have gathered at the Mexican border city of Tijuana. They are among several hundred other asylum-seekers heading north in groups toward the United States.

The Post reported that no formal agreement on the issue has been signed, and many details remain unresolved. López Obrador takes office Dec. 1.

Before the U.S. midterm elections, Trump called the northward movement of migrants in caravans an "invasion" and ordered several thousand U.S. troops to the border to bolster border security.

The Post, quoting U.S. and Mexican officials, said the deal took shape last week in Houston during a meeting between Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s incoming foreign minister, and top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

In a statement, James McCament, acting undersecretary for policy for the Department of Homeland Security, said the administration has been working since July with the current Mexican government and incoming administration on "shared issues of concern."

He said these include legitimate trade and travel, an interest in ensuring that those traveling to the U.S. borders do so safely and orderly, as well as "concern for the safety and security of vulnerable migrant populations, and respect for each nation's sovereignty."

The White House had no immediate comment on the Post report.

The agreement leaving asylum seekers in Mexico until their claims are heard in court could end the system derided by Trump as “catch and release,” which has generally allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer U.S. soil.

CLOSE Several busloads of mostly Central American migrants traveling in a caravan arrived to Tijuana, Mexico. USA TODAY

“For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico,” Olga Sánchez Cordero, the top domestic policy official under López Obrador, told The Post. She called it a “short-term solution.”

“The medium- and long-term solution is that people don’t migrate,” said Sánchez Cordero, the incoming interior minister. “Mexico has open arms and everything, but imagine, one caravan after another after another, that would also be a problem for us.”

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order this week blocking a Trump order that would deny protection to people who enter the country illegally seeking asylum.

"Whatever the scope of the president’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” Judge Jon Tigar wrote in his order.

Trump responded by blasting "Obama judges" who challenge his orders, saying such judges make the border unsafe.

Contributing: Christal Hayes

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/11/24/u-s-mexican-government-reach-deal-handling-asylum-seekers-report/2101037002/ </s> The Mexican government has reached a deal with the Trump administration that would require asylum seekers at the Southern border to wait in Mexico while their claims are processed in U.S. courts, the Washington Post reported Saturday.

The Post, which quoted Mexican officials and senior members of President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s transition team, reported the agreement would break with long-standing asylum rules and place a "formidable new barrier" for migrants from Central America attempting to reach the United States.

The Post said the plan was dubbed "Remain in Mexico."

Thousands of migrants, fleeing violence and poverty, have gathered at the Mexican border city of Tijuana. They are among several hundred other asylum-seekers heading north in groups toward the United States.

More: More than 100 migrants camp at Paso del Norte international bridge, wait to enter U.S.

The Post reported that no formal agreement on the issue has been signed, and many details remain unresolved. López Obrador takes office Dec. 1.

Before the U.S. midterm elections, President Donald Trump called the northward movement of migrants in caravans an "invasion" and ordered several thousand troops to the border to bolster border security.

The Post, quoting U.S.and Mexican officials, said the deal took shape last week in Houston during a meeting between Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s incoming foreign minister, and top U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

The White House had no immediate comment on the Post report.

The Post reported that asylum applicants at the border would have to remain in Mexico while their cases were processed through U.S. courts.

That could end the system derided by Trump as “catch and release,” which has generally allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer U.S. soil.

“For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico,” Olga Sánchez Cordero, the top domestic policy official under López Obrador, told The Post. She called it a “short-term solution.”

“The medium- and long-term solution is that people don’t migrate,” said Sánchez Cordero, the incoming interior minister. “Mexico has open arms and everything, but imagine, one caravan after another after another, that would also be a problem for us.”

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order this week blocking a Trump order that would deny protection to people who enter the country illegally seeking asylum.

"Whatever the scope of the president’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” Judge Jon Tigar wrote in his order.

Trump responded by blasting "Obama judges" who challenge his orders, saying such judges make the border unsafe. </s> MEXICO CITY — Mexico's incoming government denied a report Saturday that it plans to allow asylum-seekers to wait in the country while their claims move through U.S. immigration courts, one of several options the Trump administration has been pursuing in negotiations for months.

"There is no agreement of any sort between the incoming Mexican government and the U.S. government," future Interior Minister Olga Sanchez said in a statement.

Hours earlier, The Washington Post quoted her as saying that the incoming administration of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had agreed to allow migrants to stay in Mexico as a "short-term solution" while the U.S. considered their applications for asylum.Lopez Obrador will take office on Dec. 1.

The statement shared with The Associated Press said the future government's principal concern related to the migrants is their well-being while in Mexico. Sanchez said the government does not plan for Mexico to become a "third safe country."

The Washington Post reported Saturday that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has won support from the Mexican president-elect's team for a plan dubbed "Remain in Mexico."

The newspaper also quoted Sanchez as saying: "For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico."

Sanchez did not explain in the statement why The Washington Post had quoted her as saying there had been agreement.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

U.S. officials have said for months that they were working with Mexico to find solutions for what they have called a border crisis.

Approximately 5,000 Central American migrants have arrived in recent days to Tijuana, just south of California, after making their way through Mexico via caravan.

Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum on Friday declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city, which is struggling to accommodate the influx. Most of the migrants are camped inside a sports complex, where they face long wait times for food and bathrooms.

Julieta Vences, a congresswoman with Lopez Obrador's Morena party who is also president of Mexico's congressional migrant affairs commission, told the AP that incoming Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard has been discussing with U.S. officials how to handle a deluge of asylum claims at the border.

"They're going to have to open the borders (for the migrants) to put in the request," Vences said. "They will also give us dates, on what terms they will receive the (asylum) requests and in the case that they are not beneficiaries of this status, they will have to return here," Vences said.

She spoke to the AP after a visit to the crowded sports complex in Tijuana. </s> MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday that migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border would stay in Mexico until their asylum claims were individually approved in U.S. courts, but Mexico’s incoming government denied they had struck any deal.

Mexico’s incoming interior minister said there was “no agreement of any type between the future government of Mexico and the United States.”

Olga Sanchez Cordero, also the top domestic policy official for president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who takes office on Dec. 1, told Reuters that the incoming government was in talks with the United States but emphasized that they could not make any agreement since they were not yet in government.

Sanchez ruled out that Mexico would be declared a “safe third country” for asylum claimants, following a Washington Post report of a deal with the Trump administration known as “Remain in Mexico,” which quoted her calling it a “short-term solution.”

The plan, according to the newspaper, foresees migrants staying in Mexico while their asylum claims in the United States are being processed, potentially ending a system Trump decries as “catch and release” that has until now often allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer U.S. soil.

“Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We only will allow those who come into our Country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No “Releasing” into the U.S.,” Trump said in a tweet late Saturday.

“All will stay in Mexico,” Trump added in second tweet, that also threatened to close the U.S. southern border if necessary.

Jenna Gilbert, managing attorney for the Los Angeles office of Human Rights First, a legal rights organization, said Trump’s plan is “outright illegal, and I’m sure the administration will once more see itself in court.”

Trump has been seeking to block thousands of Central Americans traveling in caravans from entering the United States, and has ordered that immigrants who enter the country illegally from Mexico are ineligible for asylum.

That order has been temporary suspended by a U.S. judge.

Sanchez, who said the situation of migrant caravans was “very delicate,” did not explicitly rule out that Mexico could keep caravan migrants on its soil while their U.S. asylum claims are processed. But she told Reuters that plans to assume “safe third country” status were “ruled out.”

If Mexico were to assume “safe third country” status, asylum seekers would be required to claim refugee status in Mexico rather than the United States.

Migration activists have long argued that Mexico does not have the security conditions to offer safe haven for migrants feeling violence in Central America.

The Washington Post article cited Mexican officials and senior members of Lopez Obrador’s transition team and said the deal would break with long-standing asylum rules and mount a new obstacle to Central American migrants attempting to seek refuge in the United States from poverty and violence.

Alison Leal Parker, U.S. managing director for Human Rights Watch, a New York-based rights organization, said the plan was “a pathetic attempt by the United States to shirk responsibility. Central Americans have faced serious harm in Mexico.”

The effect, Parker said, would likely “push people fleeing for (their) lives into riskier attempts to find safety, including using criminal human smugglers who will gain power under this new policy.”

Mexico’s incoming deputy interior minister Zoe Robledo said details of the “Remain in Mexico” scheme were still being worked out.

“What we’re aiming for is that people leaving their countries due to security issues or violence can find a place to stay in Mexico if that is their decision,” Robledo told Reuters.

Robledo said the incoming government wanted to find jobs for Central American migrants in sectors that are short-staffed, such as maquila assembly plants.

Lopez Obrador has vowed to try to eliminate the causes of migration by creating more jobs and improving living conditions in Mexico and Central America.

In exchange, he hopes Trump and the Canadian government will agree to help spur economic development in the region.

Outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto has also sought to stem the flow of migrants north by offering jobs to them, and has received backing from the private sector in his efforts. </s> MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s incoming interior minister said on Saturday there was “no agreement of any type between the future government of Mexico and the United States” that will require asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims move through U.S. courts.

Olga Sanchez Cordero, also the top domestic policy official for president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who takes office on Dec. 1, ruled out that Mexico would be declared a “safe third country” for asylum claimants, following a Washington Post report of a deal with the Trump administration known as “Remain in Mexico,” which quoted her calling it a “short-term solution.”

The plan, according to the newspaper, foresees migrants staying in Mexico while their asylum claims in the United States are being processed, potentially ending a system President Donald Trump decries as “catch and release” that has until now often allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer U.S. soil.

“Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We only will allow those who come into our Country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No “Releasing” into the U.S.,” Trump said in a tweet late Saturday that also threatened to close the U.S. southern border if necessary.

Sanchez, who said the situation of migrant caravans was “very delicate,” did not explicitly rule out that Mexico could keep caravan migrants on its soil while their U.S. asylum claims are processed. But she told Reuters that plans to assume “safe third country” status were “ruled out.”

If Mexico were to assume “safe third country” status, asylum seekers would be required to claim refugee status in Mexico rather than the United States.

Migration activists have long argued that Mexico does not have the security conditions to offer safe haven for migrants feeling violence in Central America.

The article cited Mexican officials and senior members of Lopez Obrador’s transition team and said the deal would break with long-standing asylum rules and mount a new obstacle to Central American migrants attempting to seek refuge in the United States from poverty and violence.

Alison Leal Parker, U.S. managing director for Human Rights Watch, a New York-based rights organization, said the plan was “a pathetic attempt by the United States to shirk responsibility. Central Americans have faced serious harm in Mexico.”

The effect, Parker said, would likely “push people fleeing for (their) lives into riskier attempts to find safety, including using criminal human smugglers who will gain power under this new policy.”

Reached for comment by Reuters, incoming deputy interior minister Zoe Robledo said details of the “Remain in Mexico” scheme were still being worked out.

“What we’re aiming for is that people leaving their countries due to security issues or violence can find a place to stay in Mexico if that is their decision,” Robledo said.

Robledo said the incoming government wanted to find jobs for Central American migrants in sectors that are short-staffed, such as maquila assembly plants.

Lopez Obrador has vowed to try to eliminate the causes of migration by creating more jobs and improving living conditions in Mexico and Central America.

In exchange, he hopes Trump and the Canadian government will agree to help spur economic development in the region.

Outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto has also sought to stem the flow of migrants north by offering jobs to them, and has received backing from the private sector in his efforts.

There was no immediate comment from the White House on the deal that the Washington Post said took shape last week in Houston during a meeting between Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s incoming foreign minister, and top U.S. officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Without confirming the deal, James McCament, Homeland Security’s Acting Under Secretary for Policy, said the U.S. government has been working since the Mexican elections with its current and incoming Mexican counterparts on trade, border policy and other issues.

“We appreciate the leadership and partnership the Mexican government has shown,” McCament said.

Trump has been seeking to block thousands of Central Americans traveling in caravans from entering the United States, and has ordered that immigrants who enter the country illegally from Mexico are ineligible for asylum.

That order has been temporary suspended by a U.S. judge. </s> MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's incoming government denied a report Saturday that it plans to allow asylum-seekers to wait in the country while their claims move through U.S. immigration courts, one of several options the Trump administration has been pursuing in negotiations for months.

The deal was seen as a way to dissuade thousands of Central American migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S., a process that can take years. In effect, Mexican border towns are already acting as waiting rooms for migrants hoping to start new lives in the U.S. due to bottlenecks at the border.

"There is no agreement of any sort between the incoming Mexican government and the U.S. government," future Interior Minister Olga Sanchez said in a statement.

Hours earlier, The Washington Post quoted her as saying that the incoming administration of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had agreed to allow migrants to stay in Mexico as a "short-term solution" while the U.S. considered their applications for asylum. Lopez Obrador will take office on Dec. 1.

The statement shared with The Associated Press said the future government's principal concern related to the migrants is their well-being while in Mexico.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has won support from the Mexican president-elect's team for a plan dubbed "Remain in Mexico."

The newspaper also quoted Sanchez as saying: "For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico."

Sanchez did not explain in the statement why The Washington Post had quoted her as saying there had been agreement.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said, "President Trump has developed a strong relationship with the incoming (Lopez) Obrador Administration, and we look forward to working with them on a wide range of issues."

Stephanie Leutert, director of the Mexico Security Initiative at the University of Texas at Austin, described the Remain in Mexico plan as a strategy to take away the ability of migrants to live and work in the U.S. while cases are processed. "The hope is that asylum seekers will not want to live in (Mexico) for months/years and won't come," Leutert said via Twitter.

U.S. officials have said for months that they were working with Mexico to find solutions for what they have called a border crisis. One variation, called "Safe Third," would have denied asylum claims on the grounds that asylum seekers had found haven in Mexico. President Enrique Pena Nieto offered thousands of Central Americans asylum on Oct. 26 if they agreed to remain in southern Mexico. Close to 3,000 migrants took Mexico up on the offer.

Sanchez said Saturday that the next government does not plan for Mexico to become a "Safe Third" country.

Approximately 5,000 Central American migrants have arrived in recent days to Tijuana, just south of California, after making their way through Mexico via caravan. But agents at the San Diego port of entry process fewer than 100 claims per day.

Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum on Friday declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city of 1.6 million, which he says is struggling to accommodate the influx. Most of the migrants are camped inside a sports complex, where they face long wait times for food and bathrooms. Hundreds of Tijuana residents have protested their arrival, complaining that recent caravans forced their way into Mexico from Guatemala.

Trump threatened Thursday to shut down the border crossing entirely if his administration determines that Mexico has lost "control" of the situation in Tijuana.

Julieta Vences, a congresswoman with Lopez Obrador's Morena party who is also president of Mexico's congressional migrant affairs commission, told the AP that incoming Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard has been discussing with U.S. officials how to handle a deluge of asylum claims at the border.

"They're going to have to open the borders (for the migrants) to put in the request," Vences said. "They will also give us dates, on what terms they will receive the (asylum) requests and in the case that they are not beneficiaries of this status, they will have to return here," Vences said.

She said Mexico needs to examine how to accommodate the migrants without angering locals.

"When they come back, we need to see how ... we can integrate them into an economic activity so that they can develop and not generate conflict with our own communities."

Local churches and charities have been feeding the migrants, with assistance from state and federal agencies. They have also distributed thousands of blankets, thin mattresses and personal hygiene kits.

Meanwhile, the government of the state of Baja California has identified 7,000 jobs for which migrants could possibly earn income while they await hearings in the U.S.

Trump took to Twitter again Saturday to reiterate that he plans to do away with the U.S. catch-and-release system, which allows asylum seekers to work and study sometimes for years while their cases are pending.

"Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court," Trump wrote. "We only will allow those who come into our Country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No 'Releasing' into the U.S..." </s> Trump says US, Mexico reach agreement to prevent tariffs

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced late Friday that he had suspended plans to impose tariffs on Mexico, tweeting that the country "has agreed to take strong measures" to stem the flow of Central American migrants into the United States. But the deal the two neighbors agreed to falls short of some of the dramatic overhauls the U.S. had pushed for.

A "U.S.-Mexico Joint Declaration" released by the State Department said the U.S. "will immediately expand the implementation" of a program that returns asylum-seekers who cross the southern border to Mexico while their claims are adjudicated. Mexico will "offer jobs, healthcare and education" to those people, the agreement stated.

Mexico has also agreed, it said, to take "unprecedented steps to increase enforcement to curb irregular migration," including the deployment of the Mexican National Guard throughout the country, especially on its southern border with Guatemala. And Mexico is taking "decisive action to dismantle human smuggling and trafficking organizations as well as their illicit financial and transportation networks," the State Department said.

The move puts to an end — for now — a threat that had sparked dire warnings from members of Trump's own party, who warned the tariffs would damage the economy, drive up prices for consumers and imperil an updated North American trade pact. Trump's Friday night tweet marked a sharp reversal from earlier in the day, when his spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters: "Our position has not changed. The tariffs are going forward as of Monday."

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador tweeted, "Thanks to the support of all Mexicans, the imposition of tariffs on Mexican products exported to the USA has been avoided." He called for a gathering to celebrate in Tijuana Saturday.

The changes, in part, continue steps the Trump administration was already taking. The U.S. announced in December that it would make some asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their cases were being proceeded — a begrudging agreement with Mexico that has taken months to scale and that has been plagued with glitches, including wrong court dates, travel problems and issues with lawyers reaching their clients.

Homeland Security officials have been ramping up slowly, and were already working to spread the program along the border before the latest blowup. About 10,000 people have been returned to Mexico to wait out the processing of their immigration cases since the program began Jan. 29. More than 100,000 migrants are currently crossing the U.S. border each month, but not everyone claims asylum and migrants can wait an entire year before making a claim.

Any sizable increase may also be difficult to achieve. At the San Ysidro crossing alone, Mexico had been prepared to accept up to 120 asylum seekers per week, but for the first six weeks only 40 people per week were returned.

Trump had announced the tariff plan last week, declaring in a tweet that, on June 10, the U.S. would "impose a 5% Tariff on all goods coming into our Country from Mexico, until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP." U.S. officials had laid out steps Mexico could take to prevent the tariffs, but many had doubts that even those steps would be enough to satisfy Trump on illegal immigration, a signature issue of his presidency and one that he sees as crucial to his 2020 re-election campaign.

After returning from Europe Friday, though, Trump tweeted, "I am pleased to inform you that The United States of America has reached a signed agreement with Mexico." He wrote that the "Tariffs scheduled to be implemented by the U.S. on Monday, against Mexico, are hereby indefinitely suspended."

He said Mexico has agreed to work to "stem the tide of Migration through Mexico, and to our Southern Border" and said those steps would "greatly reduce, or eliminate, Illegal Immigration coming from Mexico and into the United States."

The 5% tax on all Mexican goods , which would increase every month up to 25% under Trump's plan, would have had enormous economic implications for both countries. Americans bought $378 billion worth of Mexican imports last year, led by cars and auto parts. Many members of Trump's Republican Party and business allies had urged him to reconsider — or at least postpone actually implementing the tariffs as talks continue — citing the potential harm to American consumers and manufactures.

From the moment Trump announced the tariff threat, observers wondered whether he would pull the trigger, noting his habit of creating problems and then claiming credit when he rushes in to solve them.

In late March, Trump threatened to shut the entire U.S.-Mexico border if Mexico didn't immediately halt illegal immigration. Just a few days later, he backed off that threat, saying he was pleased with steps Mexico had taken. It was unclear, however, what — if anything — Mexico had changed.

U.S. and Mexican officials met for more than 10 hours Friday during a third day of talks at the U.S. State Department trying to hash out a deal that would satisfy Trump's demand that Mexico dramatically increase its efforts to crack down on migrants.

The talks had been focused, in part, on attempting to reach a compromise on changes that would make it harder for migrants who pass through Mexico from other countries to claim asylum in the U.S., those monitoring the situation said. Mexico has long opposed such a change but appeared open to considering a potential compromise that could include exceptions or waivers for different types of cases. The joint declaration, however makes no mention of the issue.

Leaving the State Department Friday night, Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said he thought the deal struck "a fair balance" because the U.S. "had more drastic proposals and measures at the start."

But Leticia Calderón Cheluis, a migration expert at the Mora Institute in Mexico City, said the agreement is essentially a series of compromises solely by Mexico, which she said committed to "a double clamp at both borders."

Trump in recent months has embraced tariffs as a political tool he can use to force countries to comply with his demands — in this case on his signature issue of immigration. Beyond Trump and several White House advisers, though, few in his administration had believed the tariffs were a good idea, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations. Those people had worried about the negative economic consequences for Americans and argued that tariffs — which would likely spark retaliatory taxes on U.S. exports — would also hurt the administration politically.

Republicans in Congress had also warned the White House that they were ready to stand up to the president to try to block his tariffs, which they worried would spike costs to U.S. consumers, harm the economy and imperil a major pending U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal .

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., greeted Friday night's news with sarcasm. "This is an historic night!" he tweeted. "Now that that problem is solved, I'm sure we won't be hearing any more about it in the future."

Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Colleen Long, Paul Wiseman, Lisa Mascaro, Darlene Superville and Padmananda Rama in Washington and Jonathan Lemire in Shannon, Ireland contributed to this report.
U.S. President Donald Trump announces that migrants seeking asylum at the southern border will wait in Mexico while their claims are processed in U.S. courts. Mexico's incoming foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard denies an agreement has been reached, and says "(no) specific proposal" has been received from the United States. Andrés Manuel López Obrador's administration will take power next Saturday, December 1.