'Texas is overstepping': AMLO responds to Gov. Abbott's order to send back migrants

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Friday that Texas Governor Greg Abbott "overstepped his authority" by ordering state forces to detain and return migrants to the border.

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— Gobierno de México (@GobiernoMX) July 8, 2022

"He is overstepping his bounds. It is not his legal responsibility to make that decision. It is something that has to do with the federal government in the United States. However, since there are elections in November, then they are looking for sensationalism, yellow journalism. They think that this way they will have sympathy, those of one party or the other," AMLO warned in a press conference.

The president added that, while he respects U.S. sovereignty, he disagrees with creating anti-immigrant campaigns for electoral purposes. "I consider it immoral, politicking. We are not going to be counted on," he added.

He also asked Latino citizens in the United States not to vote for any party or candidate that harms migrants. "Many of those who live in Texas have Mexican origins. No migrant should be mistreated," he concluded.

Abbott’s administration issued an executive order on Thursday to "authorize and empower the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to apprehend illegal immigrants illegally crossing the border between ports of entry and return them to the border."

After learning of the measure, the Mexican government dismissed the order and stated that immigration policy can only be discussed between federal authorities.

Abbott has criticized Joe Biden's administration for its policies on immigration issues. The governor said his executive order was necessary because the U.S. president "refuses to do his job and enforce the immigration laws enacted by Congress."

Migration figures from Mexico to the United States have remained high in recent months. In May, authorities apprehended more than 239,000 people at the Mexican border, a record number. This figure also includes those who have attempted to enter the U.S. on multiple occasions.

La orden emitida por el gobierno de Texas surge una semana de que la Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos diera luz verde a la administración Biden para finalizar la política Quédate en México, puesta en marcha por el expresidente Donald Trump en 2019 para enviar a los solicitantes de asilo al país azteca, donde debían esperar la resolución de sus casos.

The order issued by the Texas government comes a week after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Biden administration to end the Stay in Mexico policy, put in place by former President Donald Trump in 2019 to send asylum seekers to the Aztec country to await the resolution of their cases.