CLOSE Migrants in a caravan of Central Americans have arrived by the hundreds in Tijuana, just south of San Diego. Many say they will seek asylum in the US. (Nov. 15) AP

Members of the 'migrant caravan' worship during a street worship service outside a temporary shelter set up for members of the caravan on November 23, 2018 in Tijuana, Mexico. Around 5,000 migrants from Central America have arrived in the city with the mayor of Tijuana declaring the situation a 'humanitarian crisis.'.. (Photo: Mario Tama, Getty Images)

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced over Twitter Saturday evening that asylum seekers at the Southern border will wait in Mexico while their claims are processed in U.S. courts.

"Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We only will allow those who come into our Country legally," the president wrote on Twitter Saturday evening. "All will stay in Mexico."

In his tweets, the president also threatened to close the Southern border "for any reason it becomes necessary."

"There is no way that the United States will, after decades of abuse, put up with this costly and dangerous situation anymore!" Trump wrote.

The president's tweets followed a Washington Post report Saturday that described a new agreement between the U.S. and Mexico that would allow asylum seekers to stay in Mexico.

Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We only will allow those who come into our Country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No “Releasing” into the U.S... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2018

....All will stay in Mexico. If for any reason it becomes necessary, we will CLOSE our Southern Border. There is no way that the United States will, after decades of abuse, put up with this costly and dangerous situation anymore! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2018

The Post, which quoted Mexican officials and senior members of President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s transition team, reported the agreement would break with long-standing asylum rules and place a "formidable new barrier" for migrants from Central America attempting to reach the United States.

The Post said the plan was dubbed "Remain in Mexico."

More: Homeland Security focuses on border security — not processing asylum applications from migrant caravan

More: Homeland Security focuses on border security — not processing asylum applications from migrant caravan

More: It's not just 'Obama judges'. Here are Republican appointees who have ruled against Trump

Thousands of migrants, fleeing violence and poverty, have gathered at the Mexican border city of Tijuana. They are among several hundred other asylum-seekers heading north in groups toward the United States.

The Post reported that no formal agreement on the issue has been signed, and many details remain unresolved. López Obrador takes office Dec. 1.

Before the U.S. midterm elections, Trump called the northward movement of migrants in caravans an "invasion" and ordered several thousand U.S. troops to the border to bolster border security.

The Post, quoting U.S. and Mexican officials, said the deal took shape last week in Houston during a meeting between Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s incoming foreign minister, and top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

In a statement, James McCament, acting undersecretary for policy for the Department of Homeland Security, said the administration has been working since July with the current Mexican government and incoming administration on "shared issues of concern."

He said these include legitimate trade and travel, an interest in ensuring that those traveling to the U.S. borders do so safely and orderly, as well as "concern for the safety and security of vulnerable migrant populations, and respect for each nation's sovereignty."

The White House had no immediate comment on the Post report.

The agreement leaving asylum seekers in Mexico until their claims are heard in court could end the system derided by Trump as “catch and release,” which has generally allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer U.S. soil.

CLOSE Several busloads of mostly Central American migrants traveling in a caravan arrived to Tijuana, Mexico. USA TODAY

“For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico,” Olga Sánchez Cordero, the top domestic policy official under López Obrador, told The Post. She called it a “short-term solution.”

“The medium- and long-term solution is that people don’t migrate,” said Sánchez Cordero, the incoming interior minister. “Mexico has open arms and everything, but imagine, one caravan after another after another, that would also be a problem for us.”

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order this week blocking a Trump order that would deny protection to people who enter the country illegally seeking asylum.

"Whatever the scope of the president’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” Judge Jon Tigar wrote in his order.

Trump responded by blasting "Obama judges" who challenge his orders, saying such judges make the border unsafe.

Contributing: Christal Hayes

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/11/24/u-s-mexican-government-reach-deal-handling-asylum-seekers-report/2101037002/</s>Image copyright Reuters Image caption Thousands of migrants are now waiting at the border in Mexico

Mexico's incoming foreign minister has said discussions on how to deal with migrants travelling to the United States are continuing despite reports a deal has been reached.

Marcelo Ebrard denied reaching an agreement which would see asylum seekers waiting in Mexico while their claims were processed in US courts.

Mr Ebrard's words seem to contradict US President Donald Trump's latest tweet.

He said migrants would not be allowed entry until their claims were approved.

"Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court," Mr Trump wrote, adding: "No 'releasing' into the US. All will stay in Mexico."

The conflicting statements emerged after the Washington Post reported Mexican officials had agreed to let migrants trying to enter the US stay in Mexico while their asylum claims were heard.

According to the newspaper, the plan was called "Remain in Mexico".

But Mr Ebrard, who will become foreign minister in December after Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's administration takes power, said the US had yet to even send "a specific proposal" on how to deal with the issue.

He said conversations were still taking place with Washington.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption There are fears migrants could be stuck in temporary shelters for months

Incoming Interior Minister Olga Sanchez Cordero also told news agency Reuters no agreement had been reached - although the Washington Post article initially quoted her as saying it was a "short term solution" to deal with the migrant caravan.

Thousands of migrants - including women and children - are currently at the US-Mexico border after travelling more than 4,000km (2,500 miles) from Central America.

They say they are fleeing persecution, poverty and violence in their home countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

Many are now waiting in temporary shelters in the border city of Tijuana, leading the mayor declare a humanitarian crisis. There are fears as many as 9,000 may be stuck in the city for months.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump has deployed about 5,800 troops to the border and has previously described the migrants as an "invasion".</s>MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's incoming government denied a report Saturday that it plans to allow asylum-seekers to wait in the country while their claims move through U.S. immigration courts, one of several options the Trump administration has been pursuing in negotiations for months.

The deal was seen as a way to dissuade thousands of Central American migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S., a process that can take years. In effect, Mexican border towns are already acting as waiting rooms for migrants hoping to start new lives in the U.S. due to bottlenecks at the border.

"There is no agreement of any sort between the incoming Mexican government and the U.S. government," future Interior Minister Olga Sanchez said in a statement.

Hours earlier, The Washington Post quoted her as saying that the incoming administration of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had agreed to allow migrants to stay in Mexico as a "short-term solution" while the U.S. considered their applications for asylum. Lopez Obrador will take office on Dec. 1.

The statement shared with The Associated Press said the future government's principal concern related to the migrants is their well-being while in Mexico.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has won support from the Mexican president-elect's team for a plan dubbed "Remain in Mexico."

The newspaper also quoted Sanchez as saying: "For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico."

Sanchez did not explain in the statement why The Washington Post had quoted her as saying there had been agreement.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said, "President Trump has developed a strong relationship with the incoming (Lopez) Obrador Administration, and we look forward to working with them on a wide range of issues."

Stephanie Leutert, director of the Mexico Security Initiative at the University of Texas at Austin, described the Remain in Mexico plan as a strategy to take away the ability of migrants to live and work in the U.S. while cases are processed. "The hope is that asylum seekers will not want to live in (Mexico) for months/years and won't come," Leutert said via Twitter.

U.S. officials have said for months that they were working with Mexico to find solutions for what they have called a border crisis. One variation, called "Safe Third," would have denied asylum claims on the grounds that asylum seekers had found haven in Mexico. President Enrique Pena Nieto offered thousands of Central Americans asylum on Oct. 26 if they agreed to remain in southern Mexico. Close to 3,000 migrants took Mexico up on the offer.

Sanchez said Saturday that the next government does not plan for Mexico to become a "Safe Third" country.

Approximately 5,000 Central American migrants have arrived in recent days to Tijuana, just south of California, after making their way through Mexico via caravan. But agents at the San Diego port of entry process fewer than 100 claims per day.

Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum on Friday declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city of 1.6 million, which he says is struggling to accommodate the influx. Most of the migrants are camped inside a sports complex, where they face long wait times for food and bathrooms. Hundreds of Tijuana residents have protested their arrival, complaining that recent caravans forced their way into Mexico from Guatemala.

Trump threatened Thursday to shut down the border crossing entirely if his administration determines that Mexico has lost "control" of the situation in Tijuana.

Julieta Vences, a congresswoman with Lopez Obrador's Morena party who is also president of Mexico's congressional migrant affairs commission, told the AP that incoming Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard has been discussing with U.S. officials how to handle a deluge of asylum claims at the border.

"They're going to have to open the borders (for the migrants) to put in the request," Vences said. "They will also give us dates, on what terms they will receive the (asylum) requests and in the case that they are not beneficiaries of this status, they will have to return here," Vences said.

She said Mexico needs to examine how to accommodate the migrants without angering locals.

"When they come back, we need to see how ... we can integrate them into an economic activity so that they can develop and not generate conflict with our own communities."

Local churches and charities have been feeding the migrants, with assistance from state and federal agencies. They have also distributed thousands of blankets, thin mattresses and personal hygiene kits.

Meanwhile, the government of the state of Baja California has identified 7,000 jobs for which migrants could possibly earn income while they await hearings in the U.S.

Trump took to Twitter again Saturday to reiterate that he plans to do away with the U.S. catch-and-release system, which allows asylum seekers to work and study sometimes for years while their cases are pending.

"Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court," Trump wrote. "We only will allow those who come into our Country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No 'Releasing' into the U.S..."</s>US President Donald Trump says asylum seekers have to wait in Mexico until claims approved, but Mexico denies making any deal

US President Donald Trump has said migrants at the US-Mexico border will stay in Mexico until their asylum claims are individually approved in US courts, but Mexico's incoming government has denied striking any deal.

Their comments came on the back of a report in The Washington Post, which claimed Mexico and the US had agreed on a deal named Remain in Mexico.

The plan, according to the newspaper, foresees thousands of migrants staying in Mexico while their asylum claims in the United States are being processed.

This could potentially end a system Mr Trump has decried as "catch and release" that has, until now, often allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer US soil.

But Mexico's incoming interior minister Olga Sanchez Cordero said there was "no agreement of any type between the future government of Mexico and the United States".

Ms Sanchez Cordero ruled out that Mexico would be declared a "safe third country" for asylum claimants.

If Mexico were to assume "safe third country" status, asylum seekers would be required to claim refugee status in Mexico rather than the United States, and activists have long argued Mexico does not have the security conditions to offer safe haven for Central American migrants fleeing poverty and violence.

Ms Sanchez Cordero, the top domestic policy official for president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador — who takes office on December 1 — said the incoming government was in talks with the United States.

But she said they could not make any agreement on the issue, since they are not yet in government.

Mr Trump is seeking to block thousands of Central Americans travelling in caravans from entering the United States, and has ordered that immigrants who enter the country illegally from Mexico are ineligible for asylum.

That order has been temporary suspended by a US judge.

During his Thanksgiving break, Mr Trump also threatened to close entry into the country from the southern border.

Managing attorney for the Los Angeles office of legal rights organisation Human Rights First, Jenna Gilbert, said Mr Trump's new plan is "outright illegal, and I'm sure the administration will once more see itself in court".

The Washington Post article cited Mexican officials and senior members of Mr Lopez Obrador's transition team.

It said the deal would break with long-standing asylum rules and mount a new obstacle for Central American migrants attempting to seek refuge in the United States.

Mexico's incoming deputy interior minister, Zoe Robledo, said details of the Remain in Mexico scheme were still being worked out.

"What we're aiming for is that people leaving their countries due to security issues or violence can find a place to stay in Mexico, if that is their decision," Ms Robledo said.

Ms Robledo said the incoming government wanted to find jobs for Central American migrants in sectors that are short-staffed, such as maquila assembly plants.

Mr Lopez Obrador has vowed to try to eliminate the causes of migration by creating more jobs and improving living conditions in Mexico and Central America.

In exchange, he hopes Mr Trump and the Canadian government will agree to help spur economic development in the region.

Outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto has also sought to stem the flow of migrants north by offering jobs to them, and has received backing from the private sector in his efforts.</s>The Mexican government has reached a deal with the Trump administration that would require asylum seekers at the Southern border to wait in Mexico while their claims are processed in U.S. courts, the Washington Post reported Saturday.

The Post, which quoted Mexican officials and senior members of President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s transition team, reported the agreement would break with long-standing asylum rules and place a "formidable new barrier" for migrants from Central America attempting to reach the United States.

The Post said the plan was dubbed "Remain in Mexico."

Thousands of migrants, fleeing violence and poverty, have gathered at the Mexican border city of Tijuana. They are among several hundred other asylum-seekers heading north in groups toward the United States.

More: More than 100 migrants camp at Paso del Norte international bridge, wait to enter U.S.

The Post reported that no formal agreement on the issue has been signed, and many details remain unresolved. López Obrador takes office Dec. 1.

Before the U.S. midterm elections, President Donald Trump called the northward movement of migrants in caravans an "invasion" and ordered several thousand troops to the border to bolster border security.

The Post, quoting U.S.and Mexican officials, said the deal took shape last week in Houston during a meeting between Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s incoming foreign minister, and top U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

The White House had no immediate comment on the Post report.

The Post reported that asylum applicants at the border would have to remain in Mexico while their cases were processed through U.S. courts.

That could end the system derided by Trump as “catch and release,” which has generally allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer U.S. soil.

“For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico,” Olga Sánchez Cordero, the top domestic policy official under López Obrador, told The Post. She called it a “short-term solution.”

“The medium- and long-term solution is that people don’t migrate,” said Sánchez Cordero, the incoming interior minister. “Mexico has open arms and everything, but imagine, one caravan after another after another, that would also be a problem for us.”

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order this week blocking a Trump order that would deny protection to people who enter the country illegally seeking asylum.

"Whatever the scope of the president’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” Judge Jon Tigar wrote in his order.

Trump responded by blasting "Obama judges" who challenge his orders, saying such judges make the border unsafe.</s>MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s incoming interior minister said on Saturday there was “no agreement of any type between the future government of Mexico and the United States” that will require asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims move through U.S. courts.

Olga Sanchez Cordero, also the top domestic policy official for president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who takes office on Dec. 1, ruled out that Mexico would be declared a “safe third country” for asylum claimants, following a Washington Post report of a deal with the Trump administration known as “Remain in Mexico,” which quoted her calling it a “short-term solution.”

The plan, according to the newspaper, foresees migrants staying in Mexico while their asylum claims in the United States are being processed, potentially ending a system President Donald Trump decries as “catch and release” that has until now often allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer U.S. soil.

“Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We only will allow those who come into our Country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No “Releasing” into the U.S.,” Trump said in a tweet late Saturday that also threatened to close the U.S. southern border if necessary.

Sanchez, who said the situation of migrant caravans was “very delicate,” did not explicitly rule out that Mexico could keep caravan migrants on its soil while their U.S. asylum claims are processed. But she told Reuters that plans to assume “safe third country” status were “ruled out.”

If Mexico were to assume “safe third country” status, asylum seekers would be required to claim refugee status in Mexico rather than the United States.

Migration activists have long argued that Mexico does not have the security conditions to offer safe haven for migrants feeling violence in Central America.

The article cited Mexican officials and senior members of Lopez Obrador’s transition team and said the deal would break with long-standing asylum rules and mount a new obstacle to Central American migrants attempting to seek refuge in the United States from poverty and violence.

Alison Leal Parker, U.S. managing director for Human Rights Watch, a New York-based rights organization, said the plan was “a pathetic attempt by the United States to shirk responsibility. Central Americans have faced serious harm in Mexico.”

The effect, Parker said, would likely “push people fleeing for (their) lives into riskier attempts to find safety, including using criminal human smugglers who will gain power under this new policy.”

Reached for comment by Reuters, incoming deputy interior minister Zoe Robledo said details of the “Remain in Mexico” scheme were still being worked out.

“What we’re aiming for is that people leaving their countries due to security issues or violence can find a place to stay in Mexico if that is their decision,” Robledo said.

Robledo said the incoming government wanted to find jobs for Central American migrants in sectors that are short-staffed, such as maquila assembly plants.

Lopez Obrador has vowed to try to eliminate the causes of migration by creating more jobs and improving living conditions in Mexico and Central America.

In exchange, he hopes Trump and the Canadian government will agree to help spur economic development in the region.

Outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto has also sought to stem the flow of migrants north by offering jobs to them, and has received backing from the private sector in his efforts.

There was no immediate comment from the White House on the deal that the Washington Post said took shape last week in Houston during a meeting between Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s incoming foreign minister, and top U.S. officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Without confirming the deal, James McCament, Homeland Security’s Acting Under Secretary for Policy, said the U.S. government has been working since the Mexican elections with its current and incoming Mexican counterparts on trade, border policy and other issues.

“We appreciate the leadership and partnership the Mexican government has shown,” McCament said.

Trump has been seeking to block thousands of Central Americans traveling in caravans from entering the United States, and has ordered that immigrants who enter the country illegally from Mexico are ineligible for asylum.

That order has been temporary suspended by a U.S. judge.</s>MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday that migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border would stay in Mexico until their asylum claims were individually approved in U.S. courts, but Mexico’s incoming government denied they had struck any deal.

Mexico’s incoming interior minister said there was “no agreement of any type between the future government of Mexico and the United States.”

Olga Sanchez Cordero, also the top domestic policy official for president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who takes office on Dec. 1, told Reuters that the incoming government was in talks with the United States but emphasized that they could not make any agreement since they were not yet in government.

Sanchez ruled out that Mexico would be declared a “safe third country” for asylum claimants, following a Washington Post report of a deal with the Trump administration known as “Remain in Mexico,” which quoted her calling it a “short-term solution.”

The plan, according to the newspaper, foresees migrants staying in Mexico while their asylum claims in the United States are being processed, potentially ending a system Trump decries as “catch and release” that has until now often allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer U.S. soil.

“Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We only will allow those who come into our Country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No “Releasing” into the U.S.,” Trump said in a tweet late Saturday.

“All will stay in Mexico,” Trump added in second tweet, that also threatened to close the U.S. southern border if necessary.

Jenna Gilbert, managing attorney for the Los Angeles office of Human Rights First, a legal rights organization, said Trump’s plan is “outright illegal, and I’m sure the administration will once more see itself in court.”

Trump has been seeking to block thousands of Central Americans traveling in caravans from entering the United States, and has ordered that immigrants who enter the country illegally from Mexico are ineligible for asylum.

That order has been temporary suspended by a U.S. judge.

Sanchez, who said the situation of migrant caravans was “very delicate,” did not explicitly rule out that Mexico could keep caravan migrants on its soil while their U.S. asylum claims are processed. But she told Reuters that plans to assume “safe third country” status were “ruled out.”

If Mexico were to assume “safe third country” status, asylum seekers would be required to claim refugee status in Mexico rather than the United States.

Migration activists have long argued that Mexico does not have the security conditions to offer safe haven for migrants feeling violence in Central America.

The Washington Post article cited Mexican officials and senior members of Lopez Obrador’s transition team and said the deal would break with long-standing asylum rules and mount a new obstacle to Central American migrants attempting to seek refuge in the United States from poverty and violence.

Alison Leal Parker, U.S. managing director for Human Rights Watch, a New York-based rights organization, said the plan was “a pathetic attempt by the United States to shirk responsibility. Central Americans have faced serious harm in Mexico.”

The effect, Parker said, would likely “push people fleeing for (their) lives into riskier attempts to find safety, including using criminal human smugglers who will gain power under this new policy.”

Mexico’s incoming deputy interior minister Zoe Robledo said details of the “Remain in Mexico” scheme were still being worked out.

“What we’re aiming for is that people leaving their countries due to security issues or violence can find a place to stay in Mexico if that is their decision,” Robledo told Reuters.

Robledo said the incoming government wanted to find jobs for Central American migrants in sectors that are short-staffed, such as maquila assembly plants.

Lopez Obrador has vowed to try to eliminate the causes of migration by creating more jobs and improving living conditions in Mexico and Central America.

In exchange, he hopes Trump and the Canadian government will agree to help spur economic development in the region.

Outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto has also sought to stem the flow of migrants north by offering jobs to them, and has received backing from the private sector in his efforts.</s>The Trump administration has won the support of Mexico's incoming government for a plan to remake U.S. border policy by requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims move through U.S. courts, according to Mexican officials and senior members of president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador's transition team.

The agreement would break with long-standing asylum rules and place a formidable new barrier in the path of Central American migrants attempting to reach the United States and escape poverty and violence. By reaching the accord, the Trump administration has also overcome Mexico's historic reticence to deepen cooperation with the United States on an issue widely seen here as America's problem.

The White House had no immediate comment.

According to outlines of the plan, known as Remain in Mexico, asylum applicants at the border will have to stay in Mexico while their cases are processed, potentially ending the system Trump decries as "catch and release" that has until now generally allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer U.S. soil.

"For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico," said Olga Sánchez Cordero, Mexico's incoming interior minister, the top domestic policy official for López Obrador, who takes office Dec. 1. In an interview with The Washington Post, she called it a "short-term solution."

"The medium- and long-term solution is that people don't migrate," Sánchez Cordero said. "Mexico has open arms and everything, but imagine, one caravan after another after another, that would also be a problem for us."

While no formal agreement has been signed, and U.S. officials caution that many details must still be discussed, the incoming Mexican government is amenable to the concept of turning their country in to a waiting room for America's asylum system.

While they remain anxious the deal could fall apart, U.S. officials view this as a potential breakthrough that could deter migration and the formation of additional caravans that originate in Central America and cross through Mexico to reach the United States. They have quietly engaged in sensitive talks with senior Mexican officials, attempting to offer a diplomatic counterbalance to President Donald Trump's threats and ultimatums.

Alarmed by Trump's deployment of U.S. military forces to California, Arizona and Texas, and his threats to close busy border crossings, Mexican officials were further determined to take action after migrants traveling as part of a caravan forced their way onto Mexican soil last month, pushing past police blockades at the border with Guatemala.

The prospect of keeping thousands of Central American asylum seekers for months or years in drug cartel-dominated Mexican border states - some of the most violent in the country - has troubled human-rights activists and others who worry that such a plan could put migrants at risk and undermine their lawful right to apply for asylum.

"We have not seen a specific proposal, but any policy that would leave individuals stranded in Mexico would inevitably put people in danger," said Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney whose team has won several legal victories against the Trump administration's immigration initiatives in recent months.

"The Administration ought to concentrate on providing a fair and lawful asylum process in the U.S. rather than inventing more and more ways to try to short-circuit it," Gelernt said.

The new measures could also trigger legal challenges, though Gelernt said it was too early to comment on potential litigation.

The deal took shape last week in Houston during a meeting between Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico's incoming foreign minister, and top U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, according to U.S. and Mexican officials.

Nielsen has been fighting to keep her job since the midterms, and while Trump has told aides he plans to replace her, the president praised her this week for "trying."

Dozens of U.S. asylum officers have been sent to San Diego where they will begin implementing the new procedures in coming days or weeks, according to Department of Homeland Security officials. Under the new procedures, asylum seekers arriving at the border will be given an initial screening interview to determine whether they face imminent danger by staying in Mexico.

U.S. officials describing the new system on the condition of anonymity said that they will be able to process at least twice as many asylum claims as they do now because they would not be limited by detention space constraints at U.S. ports of entry. The San Ysidro port of entry in the San Diego area currently accepts about 60 to 100 asylum claims per day.

Just over the border, nearly 5,000 Central Americans have arrived in Tijuana this month as part of caravan groups, and several thousand others are en route to the city, where a baseball field has been turned into a swelling tent camp. The city's mayor declared a "humanitarian crisis" Friday and said the city's taxpayers would not foot the bill for the migrants' care.

A group of business leaders in the city said they have thousands of job openings at the city's assembly plants, or maquiladoras, inviting Central American migrants to work in the factories. Though wages there are a small fraction of U.S. pay, Mexican officials said the work offer was one reason they believe the Remain in Mexico plan will succeed. Across the country, there are 100,000 jobs available to Central American asylum seekers, officials said.

"We want them to be included in society, that they integrate into society, that they accept the offer of employment that we are giving them," Sánchez Cordero said. "That they feel taken care of by Mexico in this very vulnerable situation."

Two senior members of López Obrador's transition team said the new accord would formalize what is already occurring. By admitting so few people into the asylum process, the United States is already using Mexico as an antechamber.

U.S. immigration statistics show roughly 80 percent of Central Americans pass a perfunctory "credible fear" interview after reaching the United States, but fewer than 10 percent are ultimately granted asylum by a judge. The backlog of cases in U.S. immigration courts has ballooned past 750,000, giving many asylum seekers who do not qualify a chance to remain in the country for several years while waiting to see a judge.</s>By Joshua Partlow and Nick Miroff | The Washington Post

MEXICO CITY — The Trump administration has won the support of Mexico’s incoming government for a plan to remake U.S. border policy by requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims move through U.S. courts, according to Mexican officials and senior members of president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s transition team.

The agreement would break with long-standing asylum rules and place a formidable new barrier in the path of Central American migrants attempting to reach the United States and escape poverty and violence. By reaching the accord, the Trump administration has also overcome Mexico’s historic reticence to deepen cooperation with the United States on an issue widely seen here as America’s problem.

The White House had no immediate comment.

According to outlines of the plan, known as Remain in Mexico, asylum applicants at the border will have to stay in Mexico while their cases are processed, potentially ending the system Trump decries as “catch and release” that has until now generally allowed those seeking refuge to wait on safer U.S. soil.

“For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico,” said Olga Sánchez Cordero, Mexico’s incoming interior minister, the top domestic policy official for López Obrador, who takes office Dec. 1. In an interview with The Washington Post, she called it a “short-term solution.”

“The medium- and long-term solution is that people don’t migrate,” Sánchez Cordero said. “Mexico has open arms and everything, but imagine, one caravan after another after another, that would also be a problem for us.”

While no formal agreement has been signed, and U.S. officials caution that many details must still be discussed, the incoming Mexican government is amenable to the concept of turning their country in to a waiting room for America’s asylum system.

While they remain anxious the deal could fall apart, U.S. officials view this as a potential breakthrough that could deter migration and the formation of additional caravans that originate in Central America and cross through Mexico to reach the United States. They have quietly engaged in sensitive talks with senior Mexican officials, attempting to offer a diplomatic counterbalance to President Donald Trump’s threats and ultimatums.

Alarmed by Trump’s deployment of U.S. military forces to California, Arizona and Texas, and his threats to close busy border crossings, Mexican officials were further determined to take action after migrants traveling as part of a caravan forced their way onto Mexican soil last month, pushing past police blockades at the border with Guatemala.

The prospect of keeping thousands of Central American asylum seekers for months or years in drug cartel-dominated Mexican border states — some of the most violent in the country — has troubled human-rights activists and others who worry that such a plan could put migrants at risk and undermine their lawful right to apply for asylum.

“We have not seen a specific proposal, but any policy that would leave individuals stranded in Mexico would inevitably put people in danger,” said Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney whose team has won several legal victories against the Trump administration’s immigration initiatives in recent months.

“The administration ought to concentrate on providing a fair and lawful asylum process in the U.S. rather than inventing more and more ways to try to short-circuit it,” Gelernt said.

The new measures could also trigger legal challenges, though Gelernt said it was too early to comment on potential litigation.

The deal took shape last week in Houston during a meeting between Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s incoming foreign minister, and top U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, according to U.S. and Mexican officials.

Nielsen has been fighting to keep her job since the midterms, and while Trump has told aides he plans to replace her, the president praised her this week for “trying.”

Dozens of U.S. asylum officers have been sent to San Diego where they will begin implementing the new procedures in coming days or weeks, according to Department of Homeland Security officials. Under the new procedures, asylum seekers arriving at the border will be given an initial screening interview to determine whether they face imminent danger by staying in Mexico.

U.S. officials describing the new system on the condition of anonymity said that they will be able to process at least twice as many asylum claims as they do now because they would not be limited by detention space constraints at U.S. ports of entry. The San Ysidro port of entry in the San Diego area currently accepts about 60 to 100 asylum claims per day.

Just over the border, nearly 5,000 Central Americans have arrived in Tijuana this month as part of caravan groups, and several thousand others are en route to the city, where a baseball field has been turned into a swelling tent camp. The city’s mayor declared a “humanitarian crisis” Friday and said the city’s taxpayers would not foot the bill for the migrants’ care.

A group of business leaders in the city said they have thousands of job openings at the city’s assembly plants, or maquiladoras, inviting Central American migrants to work in the factories. Though wages there are a small fraction of U.S. pay, Mexican officials said the work offer was one reason they believe the Remain in Mexico plan will succeed. Across the country, there are 100,000 jobs available to Central American asylum seekers, officials said.

“We want them to be included in society, that they integrate into society, that they accept the offer of employment that we are giving them,” Sánchez Cordero said, “that they feel taken care of by Mexico in this very vulnerable situation.”

Two senior members of López Obrador’s transition team said the new accord would formalize what is already occurring. By admitting so few people into the asylum process, the United States is already using Mexico as an antechamber.

U.S. immigration statistics show roughly 80 percent of Central Americans pass a perfunctory “credible fear” interview after reaching the United States, but fewer than 10 percent are ultimately granted asylum by a judge. The backlog of cases in U.S. immigration courts has ballooned past 750,000, giving many asylum seekers who do not qualify a chance to remain in the country for several years while waiting to see a judge.

This gap, Department of Homeland Security officials say, amounts to a “loophole” that has invited a flood of spurious asylum claims, giving applicants a way to live and work in the United States for years.

The new deal, however, could inadvertently increase illegal border-crossing attempts by discouraging asylum seekers from approaching official ports of entry. On Monday, a federal judge in California blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to render ineligible for asylum those who cross illegally, saying U.S. laws protect everyone who reaches U.S. soil.

Last month, the number of people taken into U.S. custody along the Mexico border or who attempted to enter without authorization topped 60,000, the highest of Trump’s presidency.

For months U.S. officials sought an accord with Mexico that would obligate asylum seekers to wait south of the border or render those who pass through the country ineligible for humanitarian protections in the United States. They have viewed such an accord as the key step to stopping the sharp increase in asylum claims, which have quadrupled since 2014.

One version of the plan, known as a “Safe Third” agreement, was discussed extensively with the current government of president Enrique Peña Nieto. It would have barred Central Americans from applying for asylum in the United States, on the grounds that they would no longer face persecution after arriving in Mexico. But López Obrador’s landslide July 1 victory sunk those plans, and senior members of his transition team say a “Safe Third” is a nonstarter.

Mexican officials consider the Remain in Mexico plan more palatable. It would not lock them into a formal, long-term agreement. And several Mexican officials privately acknowledge that the country’s border states are not, in fact, safe. U.S. State Department travel warnings also urge American visitors to avoid several Mexican border states.

U.S. officials involved in the talks said Mexico has not asked for financial assistance to implement the new procedures, which could result in significant costs if asylum seekers are made to wait for months or years. They described the deal as a collaboration, and senior officials from both governments insisted it was not imposed upon Mexico.

Both American and Mexican officials said they hoped the accord would pave the way to a broader regional cooperation aimed at stimulating job creation in Central America.

“Our engagement with Mexico is, first and foremost, based on mutual respect and on a commitment to work together to find creative solutions to our shared challenges,” said Kim Breier, a senior State Department official with purview of Mexico and Latin America who participated in the talks.

“As neighbors and friends, the United States and Mexico are committed to strengthening cooperation to advance the security and economic well-being of the citizens of both nations based on shared interests and respect for each country’s sovereignty and the rule of law,” Breier said in a statement.

A fixture on Mexico’s left for decades, López Obrador won on populist promises to fight corruption and help the poor. Many U.S. officials assumed he would bring a more confrontational approach toward Trump and the United States. During the campaign, he was generally restrained in his criticism of Trump, repeatedly expressing a desire for a positive relationship.

At times he offered harsh assessments, though: he referred to Trump as a “neo-fascist” last year as he was gearing up for his campaign, and later said that the Mexican government had been doing Washington’s “dirty work” by catching Central Americans.

Since his victory in July, López Obrador and Trump have traded compliments. Sánchez Cordero said the transition team’s interactions with the Trump administration have been “surprisingly cordial.”

“Trump has been very friendly, very courteous, very cordial with President López Obrador,” said Sánchez Cordero. “It’s been a very smooth relationship.”

U.S. asylum officers and other immigration officials who began receiving guidance this week on the implementation of Remain in Mexico were told the new procedures could take effect imminently, but senior officials from both governments say key details remain unresolved.

U.S. officials want to roll out the program at the San Diego border crossing to deal with the caravans that have become a source of frustration for Trump, but they envision it could be expanded to another five to seven crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border. Senior U.S. officials said they want more assurances on how Mexico intends to keep asylum seekers safe and to ensure they don’t get deported back to Central America before the asylum claim gets resolved.

After an initial fear screening at the port of entry, the asylum seeker would wait until their scheduled court appearance before an immigration judge. Then they would be escorted to a federal courthouse by U.S. officers but would potentially have to return to Mexico again if the judge did not reach an immediate determination on their asylum claim.

Under the new rules, an applicant whose asylum claim is denied would not be allowed to return to Mexico. Instead, that the person would remain in U.S. custody and face immediate deportation to their home country.</s>MEXICO CITY — Mexico's incoming government denied a report Saturday that it plans to allow asylum-seekers to wait in the country while their claims move through U.S. immigration courts, one of several options the Trump administration has been pursuing in negotiations for months.

"There is no agreement of any sort between the incoming Mexican government and the U.S. government," future Interior Minister Olga Sanchez said in a statement.

Hours earlier, The Washington Post quoted her as saying that the incoming administration of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had agreed to allow migrants to stay in Mexico as a "short-term solution" while the U.S. considered their applications for asylum.Lopez Obrador will take office on Dec. 1.

The statement shared with The Associated Press said the future government's principal concern related to the migrants is their well-being while in Mexico. Sanchez said the government does not plan for Mexico to become a "third safe country."

The Washington Post reported Saturday that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has won support from the Mexican president-elect's team for a plan dubbed "Remain in Mexico."

The newspaper also quoted Sanchez as saying: "For now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico."

Sanchez did not explain in the statement why The Washington Post had quoted her as saying there had been agreement.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

U.S. officials have said for months that they were working with Mexico to find solutions for what they have called a border crisis.

Approximately 5,000 Central American migrants have arrived in recent days to Tijuana, just south of California, after making their way through Mexico via caravan.

Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum on Friday declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city, which is struggling to accommodate the influx. Most of the migrants are camped inside a sports complex, where they face long wait times for food and bathrooms.

Julieta Vences, a congresswoman with Lopez Obrador's Morena party who is also president of Mexico's congressional migrant affairs commission, told the AP that incoming Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard has been discussing with U.S. officials how to handle a deluge of asylum claims at the border.

"They're going to have to open the borders (for the migrants) to put in the request," Vences said. "They will also give us dates, on what terms they will receive the (asylum) requests and in the case that they are not beneficiaries of this status, they will have to return here," Vences said.

She spoke to the AP after a visit to the crowded sports complex in Tijuana.
U.S. President Donald Trump announces that migrants seeking asylum at the southern border will wait in Mexico while their claims are processed in U.S. courts. Mexico's incoming foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard denies an agreement has been reached, and says "(no) specific proposal" has been received from the United States. Andrés Manuel López Obrador's administration will take power next Saturday, December 1.