Jim Cason and David Brooks
Correspondents
La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, January 8, 2025, p. 4
Washington and New York. The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, declared that Mexico is a dangerous place
ruled by cartels, in comments that are part of the magnate and Republicans’ effort to keep the focus on Mexico, migrants and others external enemies
to prepare the ground to justify the political steps they will take as soon as they return to the White House on January 20.
Mexico is really in trouble, a lot of trouble, it is a very dangerous place
Trump commented at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. They are essentially ruled by cartels and we cannot allow that to happen.
. He accused the Mexican government of allowing millions of people
and record drug numbers
enter the United States.
They can stop them
Trump added before repeating his threat that his government will impose very serious tariffs
to Mexico and Canada if they do not do what he is demanding. We want to get along with everyone, but, you know, it takes two to tango
.
As part of his efforts to impose US dominance over North America, Trump also announced that he will be redrawing the map. We are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Which has a great sound, the Gulf of America, what a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate
. For Trump and most Americans, America
It is the name of the United States.
Trump’s comments came as Republican leadership in both chambers of Congress began drafting plans to advance bills on immigration, border control, tariffs and other sanctions that Trump and his allies want to enact. very quickly
. Disputes broke out in public this week among Republicans themselves over how to proceed, whether with a single bill with multiple initiatives, whether to move first on tax cuts or immigration or border measures and more.
The president of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, dared to propose that perhaps it would be better to delay anti-immigrant initiatives, arguing that Trump could act immediately in that area through executive orders.
However, as Trump pointed out again on Tuesday, he won the election in large part because of his approach on immigration. illegal
who, he repeats without any evidence, are criminals, former prisoners and people released from asylums in other countries.
Indeed, Trump and his allies’ approach to migration continues to bear fruit. A new AP/NORC poll finds that one-half of Americans now say immigration and border issues should be priorities for the government in 2025, up from one-third who said that the previous year.
For the president-elect and his allies, keep the focus on this issue along with economic ones, including tariffs against his main trading partners Mexico and Canada and others. threats
externals such as drugs and terrorists
foreigners, not only conceals the differences between their own ranks, but are part of their political strategy.
This is partly why Republicans pushed for a vote on the call on Tuesday. Laken Riley Lawwhich authorizes the imprisonment of undocumented migrants who commit minor non-violent crimes in order to proceed with their deportation. The legislation, named for a woman murdered in Georgia by an undocumented Venezuelan migrant, will now advance to the Senate, where approval is expected on Friday. It is worth noting that 48 Democratic representatives joined the 218 Republicans who approved the project.
The National Immigration Law Center criticized those who supported that initiative, stating that “The Laken Riles law It is a manifestation of cynical politics. Most are manipulating a personal tragedy to blame immigrants. In reality there is no correlation between immigration status and crime. “This bill is not a public safety measure, but rather an attack on established constitutional protections that will do nothing to keep communities safe if signed into law.”
