Trump says DACA deal for young immigrants is off

U.S. President Donald Trump onSunday said on Twitter that there will not be a deal onlegalizing the status ofyoung adult immigrants known asDreamers, declaring that the U.S.-Mexico border is becoming moredangerous.

After posting a "Happy Easter" message on the social mediaplatform, Trump followed with: "Border Patrol Agents are notallowed to properly do their job at the Border because ofridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Gettingmore dangerous. 'Caravans' coming. Republicans must go toNuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!"

DACA(Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is the programcreated in 2012 under Democratic President Barack Obamathat Trump sought to rescind last autumn. Designed forindividuals brought to the United States as children by parentswho were undocumented immigrants, the program shielded theindividuals from deportation and gave them work permits.

He also threatened to kill the North American Free TradeAgreement, which is currently being renegotiated with Mexico andCanada.

Trump is spending the Easter holiday in Palm Beach, Fla.,at his Mar-a-Lago resort. He told reporters on his way intoEaster services that "Mexico has got to help us at the border."

Trump has said he was open to brokering a deal withcongressional Democrats who want to protect the DACA program inexchange for funding to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall, afrequent campaign trail promise. He insisted during hispresidential campaign that Mexico would pay for the wall.

'Not the pinata'

Mexico's presidential front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador launched his campaign close to the border on Sunday, demanding respect for Mexicans and signaling he may take a harder line toward Trump if he wins the July 1 election.

"Mexico and its people will not be the pinata of any foreign government," Lopez Obrador said in a speech in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, which borders El Paso, Texas. "It's not with walls or use of force that you resolve social problems."

Although Trump threatened a veto last month of an omnibusspending bill because it did not address the fate of Dreamersand did not fully fund his border wall, he did sign the bill.

In the months after Trump took office, the number of apprehensions of undocumented migrants along the U.S.- Mexico border dropped dramatically, from more than 42,400 arrests in January 2017 to a low of around 15,700 in April, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Since then, the number of arrests has risen and in the first months of 2018 was above the levels seen during the Obama administration.

'Caravan' heading for U.S.

His DACA tweets came shortly after a report on the Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends program, one of Trump's favourites, that a "caravan" of mostly Honduran migrants was crossing Mexico and headed to the United States, "either illegally or by asking for asylum."

More than 1,000 would-be migrants have passed throughMexico's southern states ofChiapasand Oaxaca in recent days ina so-called "refugee caravan" organized by U.S.-based immigrantadvocacy group Pueblo SinFronteras.

In the town ofIxtepec, more than 1,500 men, women andchildren from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala waited in asweltering warehouse on Saturday, mattresses rolled and bagspacked, as local authorities and immigration officials fromMexico's federal government organized 15 buses to take them totheir next stop on the long journey north.

By travelling together, the immigrants hope to protect themselves from the crime and extortion that makes the route through Mexico dangerous. They say some, but not all, of them will seek asylum if they reach the United States.

Gina Garibo, a member of Pueblo Sin Fronteras travelling withthe migrants, said the group would hold a meeting to discussTrump's statements on Sunday and stressed that the caravan's aimwas to protect vulnerable people.

"The main people here are fleeing criminal violence,political violence, in their country and this allows us to save
lives," she said in response to Trump's comments.

A guest on Sunday's Fox & Friends show, Brandon Judd, head of the National Border Patrol Council union, said undocumented migrants benefit from the "catch and release" program that Trump referenced in his tweet. Under it, they can be freed while awaiting court hearings if detained in the United States.

Petitioning for asylum

If recent border crossers do not claim asylum, they can usually be deported quickly. But if they say they fear targeted violence or persecution in their home countries, they can begin the long process of petitioning for asylum in immigration court.

In such instances, the government can choose to releasethose individuals while their cases are processed. Trump and hisattorney general, Jeff Sessions, have often criticized the Obamaadministration for routinelyparollingasylum seekers.

On Sunday Trump continued to criticize Mexico on Twitter sayingMexico is doing"very little, if not NOTHING," to stop the flow of people acrossthe southern border.

"They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop thebig drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA.NEED WALL!"

Last week, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizerexpressed optimism that negotiations to modify NAFTA to termsmore favourable to the United States were making progress andthat a deal in principle could be reached quickly.

The thorniest issues in the NAFTA talks with Mexico andCanada concern U.S. demands on automotive trade and disputesettlement systems. Linking the future of the 24-year-old tradedeal to Trump's border wall plan has never been among U.S.negotiating objectives.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said the UnitedStates and Mexico work together on migration every day.

"An inaccurate news report should not serve to question thisstrong cooperation. Upholding human dignity and rights is not atodds with the rule of law. Happy Easter," he said in a tweet.

Mexico deported some 80,000 people in 2017, down from about160,000 in 2016, official statistics show. The vast majoritywere from Central American nations. The drop reflects fewerCentral Americans crossing the country last year.