President Trump on Saturday praised the United States' "new" deal with Mexico, in which the latter country agreed to tighten measures in an effort to curb the influx of migrants into the U.S. But a new report from The New York Times raises questions about just how new the agreement really is.
Many of the actions agreed to in Friday's immigration deal, which caused Trump to back off his escalating tariff threats against the U.S.' southern neighbor, were actually negotiated months before Trump ever promised to levy taxes on Mexican goods, officials from both countries familiar with the talks told the Times.
Trump reportedly accepted the existing agreements — allegedly previously agreed to under the leadership of former Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen — after the round of negotiations sparked by his tariff threats lasted several days. The Mexican government had reportedly already pledged to deploy the National Guard to its southern border to police migration in March, though they did increase the amount of troops in the more recent negotiations.
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The other key component of Friday's deal — the expansion of a program that would keep those seeking asylum in the U.S. in Mexico while they await the results of their cases — was reportedly established in December, leaving many, reportedly including Trump, skeptical about the outcome of Friday's deal. Read more at The New York Times.
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