MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said immigrants shouldn’t be viewed as “criminals,” but declared that Mexico has a plan for an influx of returnees should President-elect Donald Trump proceed with threatened mass deportations of immigrants, many of them Mexican nationals.
“We don’t agree that migrants be treated as criminals,” Sheinbaum told reporters Thursday at her regular morning news conference, in her strongest condemnation yet of Trump’s vow to implement the largest deportation in U.S. history.
Jittery Mexican officials are bracing for the second term of Trump, who has vowed to unleash both record deportations and wide-ranging tariffs that could throttle Mexico’s already-sluggish economy, which is heavily dependent on trade with the United States.
Trump, who has denounced immigrants as “animals” and “vicious and bloodthirsty criminals” and spread debunked claims that some were eating pets, has repeatedly vowed he would launch record deportations on his first day in office, Jan. 20. The president-elect has said he would declare a national emergency and deploy the U.S. military for the deportations.
Mexican citizens represent the largest group of immigrants in the United States illegally, accounting for about 37% of the estimated 11 million in the country without documentation, according to the Pew Research Center.
Mexican immigrants in the United States are also pillars of the Mexican economy, sending more than $60 billion annually in remittances back to their homeland.
Sheinbaum, who took office Oct. 1, provided no details on her country’s plan to handle mass deportations, other than strengthening the work of Mexico’s extensive consular network in the United States.
Critics here have long assailed Mexican authorities for doing little to assist deportees, who often return to their home communities — many after years residing in the United States — with little guidance for the future and few prospects for employment. But the president rejected the notion that Mexico was not ready to deal with large-scale expulsions.
“I have read that the president and her team are not prepared,” Sheinbaum said. “Yes, we have a plan. We are prepared.”
The president and her Cabinet on Thursday were discussing issues facing the nation related to Trump administration plans, including on immigration, trade, security and other matters.
Mexican officials hope to meet with Trump’s team soon in a bid to discourage mass deportations, Sheinbaum said. Authorities here are hopeful they can convince the incoming administration that Mexican immigrants — including those residing illegally in the United States — play a vital role in the U.S. economy and should not be targeted.
Trump officials have said expelling illegal immigrants with criminal records and with standing deportation orders would be a priority, but they have not ruled out going after longtime undocumented residents who have neither criminal histories nor deportation orders.
Mexican authorities, Sheinbaum said, planned to emphasize “the importance of the work that Mexicans do in the United States, how much they pay in taxes … [and] how the United States needs these workers.”
Trump and his allies say immigrants have deflated U.S. wages and drained government resources, but some experts have warned that mass deportations could weaken the U.S. economy. Among other sectors, economists say, Mexican workers play key roles in U.S. agriculture, meatpacking, construction, hotels and restaurants.
Meanwhile, Trump’s election has added a sense of urgency for many of the tens of thousands of non-Mexican migrants transiting Mexico toward the U.S.
At least 1,500 people set out on foot in the latest caravan, which departed Wednesday from the southern Mexican city of Tapachula, a hub for migrants from Central and South America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. Many have said in comments to journalists and on social media that they hoped to cross the more than 1,000 miles to the northern border before Trump takes office in January and executes his planned crackdown.
This was at least the third caravan to set off since the week of the U.S. election. However, relatively few caravan participants may reach the northern border.
Mexican authorities, under intense pressure from the Biden administration, have been intercepting record numbers of U.S.-bound migrants in recent months, detaining them on roads and pulling them off northbound vehicles and freight trains. Many are sent back to southern Mexico, only to start the journey over.
Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican imports if Mexico does not do more to deter U.S.-bound migrants or if it fails to stem cross-border drug trafficking.
Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed to this report.
