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Mexico Tag

Reuters has discovered that Canada has detained at least five times as many Mexicans than in the previous two years due to new visa requirements. This stat is interesting considering the fact that Canada has portrayed itself as welcoming and America as a bad guy to Mexicans. From Reuters:
Canada's detention of Mexicans surged more than tenfold from 24 in November to 331 in April, the data show. The number of Mexicans filing refugee claims more than quadrupled from November to March.

President Donald Trump has officially alerted Congress that he will begin NAFTA renegotiation talks. This gives Trump's administration, Congress, and businesses a 90 day consultation period before he sits down with Canada and Mexico. From Fox Business:
"Today, President Trump is fulfilling one of his key promises to the American people," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters on Thursday. In a letter to congressional leaders, Mr. Lighthizer said the administration will start talks with Canada and Mexico as soon as 90 days from Thursday, in line with congressional rules on negotiating trade deals subject to expedited consideration by lawmakers.

FINALLY. After seven long years, authorities have arrested the man suspected of pulling the trigger and murdering Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010. The gun he used belonged to Operation Fast and Furious, the gun running scheme set up under then-Attorney General Eric Holder. Fox News reported:
The suspect, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, was apprehended by a joint U.S.-Mexico law enforcement task force that included the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals and the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC).

Journalists have faced escalating danger in recent months due to the cartels. Numerous murders have forced one news outlet to shut down production entirely. El Norte De Cd. Juarez's director, Oscar Cantu Murgia, announced the shut down on Sunday after the murder of Miroslava Breach, a collaborator for the paper, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua:
“On this day, esteemed reader, I address you to report that I have made the decision to close this newspaper due to the fact that, among other things, there are neither the guarantees nor the security to exercise critical, counterbalance journalism,” wrote Norte’s owner, Oscar A. Cantú Murguía.

The House Oversight Committee held a hearing today over the Department of Justice Inspector General's report that showed the ATF missed numerous opportunities to arrest the two men linked to the guns used to murder ICE Agent Jaime Zapata in February 2011. However, Ronald Turk, ATF associate deputy director and chief operating officer, and William Temple, ATF's special agent in charge of the Dallas Field Division, refused to show up and testify. This left Chairman Jason Chaffetz fuming.

In a live interview on today's Morning Joe, Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico, explicitly compared President Trump to "Hitler," and the Republican part to the "Nazi party." He did so in response to a request for clarification from Willie Geist, who noted that yesterday Fox had said: "when I saw [the] gathering of the Republican party retreat, Trump being there reminded me of Hitler addressing the Nazi party."

Earlier today, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto canceled a visit to America after President Donald Trump told him to do so if Mexico refuses to pay for the border wall. Despite the cancellation, Trump and his administration has not backed down on making Mexico pay for the wall. Today, Press Secretary Sean Spicer released details how Trump plans to make it happen:
In remarks to reporters, press secretary Sean Spicer said a plan was “taking shape now” to institute a 20% tax on imports from countries with which the U.S. runs a trade deficit, “like Mexico.” Mr. Spicer later told reporters that this was one of several ideas being considered by the White House to “demonstrate that paying for the wall can be done.” Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said the administration was considering “a buffet of options.”

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has canceled a trip to the United States after President Donald Trump told him to if Mexico refuses to pay for the border wall. Translation: This morning we have informed the White House that I will not attend the meeting scheduled for next Tuesday with the @POTUS.

At the White House, President Donald Trump announced meetings with Canadian Ptime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He said:
"We're going to start some negotiations having to do with NAFTA," Trump said. "Anybody ever hear of NAFTA?" he said. "I ran a campaign somewhat based on NAFTA. But we're going to start renegotiating on NAFTA, on immigration, on security at the border."

Around this time last year, notorious drug kingpin, "El Chapo" was taken into custody after months galavanting as a fugitive. Less than 24 hours before Donald Trump will be sworn in as the forty-fifth president, El Chapo is on a plane to New York. From the NYT:
A federal court in Mexico denied an appeal by Mr. Guzmán’s lawyers to block the extradition, clearing the way for his transfer to the American authorities in New York, where he faces numerous charges for his role as the chieftain of the Sinaloa cartel.

Following the news that Ford had cancelled its planned $1.6 billion auto assembly plant in Mexico, Mexican officials are concerned about the impact this will have on their economy. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Ford Motor Co.’s decision to cancel a planned $1.6 billion assembly plant in the Mexican industrial city of San Luis Potosí caught the nation’s elected officials off guard and represents a major blow to one of the main engines of Mexico’s economy.

Wrapping up its session in Paris that began several weeks ago, yesterday the United Nation’s cultural agency adopted a Palestinian and Arab state-sponsored resolution on Jerusalem that ignores both Jewish and Christian attachments to Jerusalem’s sacred sites. As we noted in a recent post, the resolution had already passed on October 13 at the committee stage when 24 UNESCO member states supported the measure (6 states, including the U.S., voted against; 26 abstained; and 2 state missions were absent for last week’s vote).