Mexican President Worries Trump's Immigration Policies Will Affect Remittances, a Top Source of Income

As Donald Trump gets ready to take office next January, one of the most pressing issues for Latin America will be his administration's relations with neighboring Mexico, a country that also has a recently-elected president in Claudia Sheinbaum.

Besides the tariffs Trump has promised to impose on Mexico, there's also the issue of Trump's plans to conduct mass deportations of migrants which could, in sum, lead the Latin American country to a recession, according to analysts.

On Monday, Sheinbaum herself shed a light on another issues that could prove to be consequential for her administration as Trump assumes office: remittances. Sheinbaum expressed caution during a morning press conference, as reported by La Opinión:

"We hope there will be no impact (on remittances), and we are preparing to hold these preliminary meetings. We are also working on issues related to economic relations, migration, security, and other high-level matters that we need to address, if possible, in a meeting before President Trump arrives."

Analysts worry that deportations could disrupt this crucial income source, especially as around half of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are Mexican nationals.

Sheinbaum also took the opportunity to advise Mexican nationals in the United States to seek support from local consulates amid concerns about Trump's recent appointments of key figures associated with past immigration enforcement including Tom Homan, former head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who has already suggested "self-deportations" and workplace raids would be part of his policies once in charge.

In response to Trump's campaign focus on border migration control, Sheinbaum and her Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente have emphasized the administration's commitment to a "humanitarian" approach that would give continuity to former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's policies. "What we are looking for is not only the containment of migration in the south, but also that there can be employment," added Sheinbaum.