Donald Trump has promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in American history as soon as he takes office.
But the Mexican government and other regional allies have failed to meet with the incoming Trump administration, leaving them in the dark about the president-elect's plans to deport millions of illegal immigrants, according to Latin American officials.
The incoming administration rejected Mexican requests for a formal meeting and insisted that detailed discussions would begin only after Mr. Trump is sworn in next Monday, according to one Mexican official and two people familiar with the exchanges who were not authorized to speak publicly.
The governments of Guatemala and Honduras have received similar messages, according to officials in those countries.
“That's not usually how things work,” says Eric L. Olson of the Wilson Center's Latin America program and Mexico Institute. “Usually by now there is more informal contact and some level of discussion.”
Analysts say the incoming administration may want to limit the conflict before stepping up the pressure by signing a series of executive orders on migration, making it difficult for governments in the region to respond. This is likely to strengthen Washington's hand in the upcoming negotiations.
“We can't talk about specific measures right now because we haven't had any specific conversations about immigration policy with the incoming authorities,” Santiago Palomo, a spokesman for Guatemala's president, said in an interview about how his country was preparing to respond. Mr. Trump's mass deportation plans.
Guatemala's ambassador to the U.S. has been in touch with Trump's transition team, officials said, but members of the incoming administration have not been briefed on the increase in deportations or specific plans for how Guatemala will prepare.
Honduran government officials also said that they have not yet established a serious relationship with the new Trump administration. Earlier this month Honduran President Xi Jinping threatened if Mr. Trump carries out mass deportations, forcing the US military out of the base it built decades ago in the Central American country.
Given Mr. Trump's sharp focus on Latin America, the lack of clarity about his goals has baffled regional governments.
The incoming administration said it wanted to restore it “Stay in Mexico” Trump's first-term policy forces some migrants to wait in Mexico rather than the United States while asylum cases are pending. Mr. Trump also said he intends to declare a national emergency and use some form of the US military to aid his cause mass deportation plans millions of undocumented immigrants.
“President Trump will bring full federal power to bear and coordinate with state agencies to carry out the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug traffickers and human traffickers in American history,” Trump transition team spokeswoman Carolyn Leavitt wrote in an email to The. New York Times. He did not respond to questions about whether the incoming administration had rejected requests from Mexico and other countries to meet.
Mexico's new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said her administration does not approve of the mass deportation program. “Of course we don't agree,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday. “However, if the US government makes such a decision, we are ready for it.”
But when asked how the country would respond, his answers were evasive — though pointed out recently the country's willingness to accept some non-Mexican deportations.
“We will ask the United States that as many non-Mexico migrants as possible can be sent to their countries of origin, or we can cooperate with different mechanisms,” he said. earlier this month.
Some analysts said Mr. Trump's team may limit its meetings with Latin American governments because of concerns about violating the Logan Act. This law forces incoming administrations to limit the scope of negotiations with foreign governments until they take office so as not to undermine sitting American presidents.
But previous administrations have met with foreign governments to carefully discuss their policy goals without violating the act.
Either way, the move did little to curb Mr. Trump's appetite for meetings with future colleagues. Since his election in November, Mr. Trump has met separately with his leaders Italy, Canada and Argentina At his hotel in Mar-a-Lago.
Despite the lack of contact, Mr. Trump has made clear his foreign policy goals through speeches and social media, giving Mexican and other regional governments some insight into potential U.S. policies in the pipeline.
“Trump has made it clear that immigration is as much a priority as tariffs,” Mr. Olson said.
Mr. Trump threatened to do so shortly after his election victory Punch tariffs of 25 percent If Mexico did not do more to stem the flow of migration and drugs.
“However, there are no clear mechanisms for the Trump administration on how to conduct dialogue and negotiations. This will be resolved soon,” added Mr. Olson.
The incoming US administration will likely try to persuade Latin American countries to accept asylum seekers from other nationalities seeking asylum in the US. “Safe Third Country Agreements”. The first Trump administration was able to get Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to sign these pacts, although the policy was short-lived and only implemented in Guatemala.
But these contracts may be more difficult to forge this time around. “We are not a safe third country, no one has suggested that,” Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo told The Associated Press this week.
His foreign minister, Carlos Ramirez Martinez, said in an interview that his government expected to face pressure. “I have no doubt it will come,” he said.
There are officials from El Salvador he said They said they will work with the Trump administration to protect the status of Salvadorans in the United States. “We are trying to make migration a choice, not an obligation,” Cindy Portal, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a television interview on Wednesday.
Lacking clarity on the transition team, some Latin American leaders are instead preparing a unified response in anticipation of any executive orders on immigration or deportations issued after Mr. Trump takes office.
Representatives of several regional governments met in Mexico City this week to discuss “opportunities and challenges of migration in the region, strengthening coordination and cooperation,” according to a Guatemalan government statement on the meeting.
The agenda, while heavy on migration, did not mention Mr. Trump.
Jody García reported from Guatemala City; Joan Suazo of Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Gabriel Labrador of San Salvador, El Salvador. James Wagner, Paulina Villegas, Emiliano Rodriguez Mega and Simon Romero from Mexico City; Mary Trini Zea of Panama City; Julie Turkewitz of Bogotá, Colombia; Hogla Enecia Pérez of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Ed Augustin of Havana, Cuba; and Lucia Cholakian Herrera of Buenos Aires, Argentina.