Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard: Madam Minister, Secretary of the Interior. We worked over the weekend, and I will read the summary to you and make a few brief remarks.

In reference to the communication sent on December 20 by the Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico to the Undersecretary for North America, and to expand on Foreign Ministry press release number 14, the Secretaries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs state that:

  1. Application of section 235(b)(2)(C) of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act, as it was notified to the Mexican government, is a domestic issue of the United States.

            As is its sovereign right, the Government of Mexico will take appropriate measures in accordance with our legal framework. To that end, the Government of Mexico will ask the U.S. authorities without delay for more information about their proposal to return individuals with a summons to appear in a U.S. court in an orderly and safe manner.

            This dialogue and its implications must adhere to the international framework and legislation of each country, and we will be reporting on its content and characteristics in a timely manner.

  1. As we said on Friday, we reiterate that under no circumstances has Mexico accepted, either de jure or de facto, the status of Safe Third Country for people entering our territory seeking access to the United States.

            A Safe Third Country Agreement is a binding international commitment that is undertaken by signing a bilateral treaty. Mexico has not signed, nor will it agree to sign, a treaty that would put it in that situation.

            A Safe Third Country Agreement would mean that all migrants, all of them, from anywhere in the world, who travel through Mexico to request asylum would be returned to our country and their only option would be to request asylum in Mexico. That is why we will not accept this type of treaty.

            Therefore, a Safe Third Country Agreement does not exist. We have not accepted this because, in addition, if a Safe Third Country Agreement were signed, all asylum applications would have to be done in Mexico. And, no, they will continue to be done in the United States. That is why we say that Mexico has not accepted that status.

  1. The Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for the federal government's migration policy in coordination with the Foreign Ministry, gives priority, and will continue to give priority, to providing the broadest protection for the human rights of the migrants in our territory, and to providing the humanitarian aid they need to ensure their personal and family integrity.

That is the end of the press release.

I would like to add a brief comment: Mexico's migration policy is undergoing drastic change.

At present, there is only one way to describe the experience of migrants who travel through our country: it's horrible.  Harrassment, abuse, rape, atrocities.

The President of Mexico has instructed us to ensure that Mexico’s migration policy is guided by a human dimension and I believe that, with the efforts of the entire government and with the leadership of the Interior Ministry, this migration policy of not permitting individuals' rights to be abused, where there are regulations, but humanitarian ones—this policy will be a source of pride for Mexico and a point of reference throughout the world.

Thank you.