Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday as lawmakers continue to work to find a legislative fix to the outstanding issues at the U.S-Mexico border. The testimony comes as the Mexico and the United States agreed on a deal to stop the flow of illegal Central American immigrants from coming into the U.S., as part of negotiations to suspend tariffs on imports from Mexico.
As part of the pact, Mexico has agreed to accelerate its national guard presence on the southern border. It’s also agreed to expand a program requiring asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims are being processed. The administration claims those stipulations are all new, but former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen had announced that asylum plan last December.
At the State Department, CBS News’ Christina Ruffini reported that Secretary Pompeo agreed that the deal with Mexico was a “fundamentally different commitment” than the deal struck last December.
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Even as he touts the Mexico deal, Mr. Trump is still lambasting congressional Democrats for their inaction on immigration. He tweeted early Tuesday that it was “sad” Mexico is doing more to stop the flow of migrants into the U.S. than Democrats in Congress are. The president admonished Democrats to “get their act together” to manage what he calls a “tremendous problem at the border.”
