International

Mexico will return migrants affected by Trump’s restrictions to its countries

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum assured on Tuesday that her Government will return to their countries of origin to migrants stranded in Mexico affected by the new immigration restrictions of the President of the United States, Donald Trump.

“We would look for the mechanisms through the migration policy and the foreign policy of return to their countries of origin, for example, there is an agreement with Guatemala, with practically all Central American countries, in fact there was a meeting last Friday for it, there is an agreement with Cuba,” he warned at his press conference.

The president promised “humanitarian attention” to migrants from other nations, particularly from Latin America, who are in Mexico and who can no longer cross to the United States, but insisted that the new Trump Government must directly deport undocumented immigrants to their places of origin and not to Mexican territory.

The president did not clarify whether the Government of Mexico would pay for these repatriations or the United States would.

“It’s what we’re going to talk about (talk) with the United States Government,” he said.

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In particular, Sheinbaum referred to the new decree of the Trump president that reinstates the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also called ‘Stay in Mexico’, which forces US asylum seekers to wait in Mexican territory.

The president argued that “more than receiving” these migrants “because the MPP is a decision of the United States”, Mexico would give them “humanitarian attention”.

“So the point is, if they are in Mexican territory those people we attend them for humanitarian reasons, but we seek within the framework of our migration policy, being foreigners, their return to their country of origin,” he argued.

Sheinbaum offered the same to the migrants who were stranded in Mexico after Trump’s cancellation of the ‘CBP One’ application of the Office of Customs and Border Protection to request US asylum from Mexican territory.

“Of course they are voluntary returns, but it is important to inform them that, as we have been doing since we arrived in October (at the Government) and that is why this integral humanitarian policy that we follow, that arriving at the border they will not be able to enter the United States,” he remarked.

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The head of state reiterated that her government is ready for mass deportations, which would affect in particular Mexico, the origin of about half of the 11 million undocumented in the United States and whose remittances represent almost 4% of the Mexican gross domestic product (GDP).

International

Ecuador oil spill worsens as containment dam collapses

The collapse of a containment dam holding back part of the 25,000+ barrels of oil spilled from a pipeline rupture nearly two weeks ago has worsened the environmental crisis in northwestern Ecuador, contaminating rivers and Pacific beaches.

The Ecuadorian government attributed the March 13 pipeline rupture—which led to the spill of 25,116 barrels of crude—to an act of sabotage. The spill affected three rivers and disrupted water supplies for several communities, according to authorities.

On Tuesday, due to heavy rains that have been falling since January, a containment dam on the Caple River collapsed. The Caple connects to other waterways in Esmeraldas Province, a coastal region bordering Colombia, state-owned Petroecuador said in a statement on Wednesday.

Seven containment barriers were installed in the Viche River, where crews worked to remove oil-contaminated debris. Additional absorbent materials were deployed in Caple, Viche, and Esmeraldas Rivers, which flow into the Pacific Ocean.

Authorities are also working to protect a wildlife refuge home to more than 250 species, including otters, howler monkeys, armadillos, frigatebirds, and pelicans.

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“This has been a total disaster,” said Ronald Ruiz, a leader in the Cube community, where the dam was located. He explained that the harsh winter rains caused river levels to rise, bringing debris that broke the containment barriersthat were holding the accumulated oil for extraction.

International

Federal court blocks Trump’s use of Enemy Alien Act for deportations

A federal appeals court upheld the block on former President Donald Trump’s use of the Enemy Alien Act on Wednesday, preventing him from using the law to expedite deportations of alleged members of the transnational criminal group Tren de Aragua.

With a 2-1 ruling, a panel from the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed previous decisions by two lower court judges, maintaining the legal standoff between the White House and the judiciary.

On March 14, Trump invoked the 1798 Enemy Alien Act, a law traditionally used during wartime, to deport hundreds of Venezuelans whom he accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization that originated in Venezuelan prisons.

The centuries-old law grants the president the power to detain, restrict, and expel foreign nationals from a country engaged in a “declared war” or an “invasion or predatory incursion” against the United States, following a public proclamation.

Central America

Kristi Noem in Latin America: Talks with Bukele on expulsions and security policies

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem arrived in El Salvador on Wednesday for a meeting with President Nayib Bukele. In a post on the social media platform X, she stated that her goal is to increase deportation flights and expel foreign nationals who have committed crimes in the United States.

El Salvador is the first stop on Noem’s three-nation tour of Latin America this week. On Thursday, she will travel to Colombia to meet with President Gustavo Petro, and on Friday, she will visit Mexico, where she is scheduled to meet with President Claudia Sheinbaum.

After arriving in El Salvador, Noem, along with Gustavo Villatoro, El Salvador’s Minister of Justice and Security, visited the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot)—the megaprison built under Bukele’s administration, designed to house 40,000 inmates. Noem said she wanted to “see firsthand the detention center where the worst criminals are held.”

Cecot is considered the largest prison in the Americas and a key symbol of Bukele’s controversial crackdown on crime.

According to the Salvadoran government, the prison—located about 70 kilometers from San Salvador—houses members of gangs such as MS-13 and Barrio 18, who have been convicted of serious crimes. The facility also holds the 238 Venezuelans deported from the United States on March 15, in an unprecedented transfer that has drawn criticism from Venezuela’s government and international human rights organizations.