In Mexico, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly insisted Thursday the U.S. would not carry out “mass deportations” and that President Trump’s deportation program was not a “military operation,” contradicting a statement made by Trump just hours earlier. Kelly was on a two-day visit with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson aimed at smoothing U.S.-Mexico relations.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly: “And again, listen to this: No—repeat, no—use of military force in immigration operations. None. So, again, I repeat, there will be no use of military forces in immigration.”
Kelly’s comments came after Trump told a gathering of corporate CEOs at the White House his deportation program was in fact a “military operation.”
President Donald Trump: “We’re getting really bad dudes out of this country and at a rate that nobody’s ever seen before. And they’re the bad ones. And it’s a military operation.”
Mexico has rejected Donald Trump’s pledge that he will force Mexico to pay for an expanded wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Mexico’s foreign minister also denounced new rules authorizing the U.S. to deport undocumented immigrants to Mexico, whether or not they are Mexican citizens.