International

Mexico receives deportees from other countries from the United States, but denies being a “safe third country”

The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, acknowledged on Tuesday that the country has received deportees of other nationalities from the United States in the first week of Donald Trump’s government, but denied becoming a “safe third country.”

“There is permanent communication, coordination in case people of other nationalities arrive, as has been done in the past,” the president said in her morning conference.

Sheinbaum declared that after receiving criticism from the opposition for reporting on Monday that, from January 20 to 26, in Trump’s first week as president, Mexico has received 4,094 deportees, but not all from Mexico.

The Mexican ruler argued that she heads a “humanist government” and that in the previous administrations of both countries Mexico has received migrants of other nationalities.

“We, as Mexicans, if there is a foreign person at the border, for humanitarian reasons we cannot, with -7 degrees in Ciudad Juárez, not attend to people for humanitarian reasons, and there is permanent coordination that has existed in the past, it is not something new,” he stressed.

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The president indicated that the situation in Mexico is different from that of El Salvador, which negotiates a ‘safe third country’ agreement with the Trump government that would allow the United States to deport migrants from other countries, including alleged members of organized crime, according to CBS News.

“We know that the United States Government is agreeing with the different countries of Latin America and other nationalities, and what we have is coordination, communication without subordination,” he insisted.

In addition, when asked if Mexico would receive military aircraft with deportees, she replies that “so far there has not been that,” because these flights have been civilian.

The country is concerned about the mass deportations promised by Trump because Mexicans are about half of the eleven million undocumented people in the United States and their remittances represent almost 4% of Mexico’s gross domestic product (GDP), which in 2024 would have received an estimated record of 65 billion dollars.

The Government of Mexico spoke with other Latin American countries to directly receive their deportees from the United States without first passing through Mexico.

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“We are acting with dignity, with sovereignty, with responsibility, a lot of responsibility, and always looking for dialogue, in defense of our sovereignty and respect for Mexicans,” Sheinbaum said.

The Government of Mexico has installed ten attention centers in the states of the northern border to receive deportees by the new Administration of Donald Trump in the United States, although they are still “empty,” said on Tuesday the Secretary of the Interior, Rosa Icela Rodríguez.

“We are ready and we are coordinated with the conviction of serving our countrymen with warmth and humanism, the care centers are already operating to provide them with a warm, orderly and safe reception,” he said.

The headquarters are in Tijuana and Mexicali, in the state of Baja California; in Nogales and San Luis Río Colorado, in Sonora; in Ciudad Juárez, in Chihuahua; in Nueva Rosita, in Coahuila; in El Carmen, in Nuevo León, and in Matamoros, Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo, in Tamaulipas, with a total of 1,250 public servants.

These centers offer free transfer, personal hygiene items, repatriation letters and other identity procedures, and food, said the Secretary of the Interior.

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“The Government of Mexico has implemented the national repatriation strategy ‘Mexico embraces you’, to receive Mexicans returned from the United States in a warm and humane way,” Rodríguez recalled.

The centers are exposed after it was learned that Mexico received 4,094 deportees, most of them of Mexican origin, and a record of four planes in a single day, during the first week of Trump as president of the United States, who announced “the largest deportation in the history” of the United States.

The strategy ‘Mexico embraces you’, the secretary detailed, consists of assisting and protecting from the consulate in the United States, as well as receiving and support in the six border states, and the reintegration of deportees in their places of origin.

It aims at the inter-institutional work of the entire Government to receive returning people, monitor compliance with international and bilateral repatriation agreements in the face of possible human rights violations, and ensure the reception and integration in their places of origin.

“Mexican migrants are not criminals, they crossed the border and contributed to the economy of that nation (United States), and they also contribute to their native country, they are very hardworking people who strive every day to get ahead,” Rodríguez said.

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Finally, the Secretary of the Interior promised the deportees that “today’s Mexico is different from what they left, it is in transformation, and it has a Government that works for the well-being of all.”

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.

International

U.S. counterterrorism chief resigns over opposition to war in Iran

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced Tuesday that he has resigned from his post, citing his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran.

In a post on X, Kent said he could not, “in good conscience,” support the conflict, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States. He also claimed that the war was driven by pressure from Israel and its lobbying influence in Washington.

In a resignation letter addressed to Donald Trump, Kent alleged that at the start of the current administration, senior Israeli officials and influential figures in U.S. media carried out a disinformation campaign that undermined the “America First” platform and fostered pro-war sentiment aimed at triggering a conflict with Iran.

Kent further stated that he could not support sending a new generation of Americans to “fight and die in a war that provides no benefit to the American people and does not justify the cost in American lives.”

Since the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed, while 10 others have been seriously wounded and around 200 have sustained minor injuries, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

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International

German president warns Iran war could spread and disrupt Strait of Hormuz

The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned Monday that the war involving Iran could expand and further disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He urged a swift end to hostilities between Iran, United States and Israel.

Speaking in Panama City during a joint appearance with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Steinmeier said available information suggests Iran has significant capacity to disrupt maritime traffic through the key oil route.

“Iran has considerable potential to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Steinmeier said through an interpreter. “We should therefore reach an end to the hostilities as soon as possible and call on all parties involved to make that happen.”

The remarks came during Steinmeier’s visit to Panama, the first by a German president to the Central American nation.

The German leader described the possibility of the conflict spreading as “very dangerous,” saying recent developments indicate that such a scenario cannot be ruled out.

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Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help ensure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to block the waterway in response to U.S. strikes. However, several allies—particularly in Europe—have shown little support for the proposal.

“Some are very enthusiastic, others are not, and some are countries we have helped for many years,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have protected them from terrible external threats, and they’re not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the Strait of Hormuz falls “outside NATO’s scope” and stressed that “the war involving Iran is not Europe’s war.”