MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico and the United States are nearing an agreement that would see non-Mexican migrants deported directly to their home countries instead of to Mexico, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday.
The Mexican leader stressed his willingness to work with US authorities on this policy, following the executive action announced by President Joe Biden on Tuesday that aims to stem the flow of migrants to the US ahead of the November elections to decrease.
“We are reaching an agreement so that if they make the decision to deport, they do it directly,” Lopez Obrador said at a regular news conference when asked about Biden’s executive order banning migrants entering the United States from claiming on asylum protection.
The new asylum restrictions, which took effect Wednesday, allow U.S. authorities to deport or return to Mexico migrants who cross the border unlawfully without the chance to seek asylum.
Lopez Obrador also suggested he would accept migrants being expelled to Mexico despite his preference for direct deportations, saying “we have no problem with that” in response to a question.
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by David Alire Garcia)
