Trump’s Surprising New Ally in Mexico? The Government – The New York Times

In the city of Piedras Negras, officials rounded up hundreds of migrants who arrived in a caravan in recent weeks and kept them under tight watch in a shelter with limited access to outsiders, advocates say. After a public outcry, the center was closed and many were bused to other cities and towns along the border.

The mayor of Ciudad Juárez, meanwhile, has threatened to sue a neighboring governor for shipping migrants to his town. It has become a game of political hot potato, with desperate Central Americans who are fleeing poverty and violence caught in the middle.

Elsewhere along the border, shelter officials say they manage lists of asylum applicants by name, nationality, age and documentation to assist Mexican officials who are complying with American border patrol mandates.

The Mexican government is resisting Mr. Trump in some ways, the official in Mr. López Obrador’s government insisted. Even acquiescing to the Trump administration on the Migrant Protection Protocols was done strategically, according to the official and two others briefed on the plan.

By allowing the program to start in San Diego and Tijuana, the Mexican officials argued, legal challenges to it in the United States go to the federal courts in the Northern District of California, which are generally seen as liberal. This matters at a time when many Americans are focused on how to beat Mr. Trump in the 2020 elections, in particular by leveraging the Mexican-American vote.