The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), Alicia Bárcena, expressed this Friday “great concern” about the new immigration laws in the United States, specifically the recently approved SB2576 in the state of Tennessee.
“We see with great concern new measures in the United States against the human rights of our migrants,” he warned in a message on his X account.
Specifically in this state, Republican Governor Bill Lee promoted this week a regulation that requires state police to inform immigration authorities if they discover foreigners in an irregular situation.
According to Senator Brent Taylor, also a Republican, the proposal that will come into force on July 1, is focused on being applied when the immigration status of previously detained people is known.
This new law joins others approved at the state level in the United States, such as Senate File 2340 of Iowa, which will classify undocumented re-entry or remaining in the state after the denial of immigration relief as a serious crime, or SB34, now suspended, which allowed Texas authorities to detain and deport migrants.
Faced with this situation, the Mexican Foreign Minister committed to “strengthen consular assistance in the face of possible cases of family separation, as well as discriminatory practices and racial profiling.”
Regarding the specific case of Iowa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) of the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador indicated this Wednesday that, through the Mexican Consulate in Omaha (Nebraska), “prevention and information measures have been implemented so that “Mexican people in the state know their rights.”
She also warned that “she will be attentive to respond to any violation and, as she has done in the face of similar initiatives, she will explore legal resources that contribute to the defense of the rights of Mexican people in the state.”
On the other hand, López Obrador affirmed in his daily conference this Friday the crossing of powers between administrations that is taking place in the United States.
“The government of Texas and other governments are wanting to decide on international issues regarding immigration,” he described, which is why “a controversy was generated between the federal and state governments,” he noted.
These controversies over new laws occur amid the unprecedented migratory flow of recent years in the region, where Mexico reported an increase of nearly 77% in irregular migration in 2023, with more than 782,000 undocumented foreigners detected.
In addition, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) last September declared the border between Mexico and the United States as “the most dangerous land migratory route in the world”, with more than 686 migrants dead or missing in 2022.