Mexico's immigration chief is stepping down, the Mexican government announced, in the middle of the country's negotiations on a migration deal with the U.S.
Head of the National Migration Institute, Tonatiuh Guillén López, tendered his resignation to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Friday after seven months on the job.
El @INAMI_mx informa 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/i6pD8C7nJ8
— INM (@INAMI_mx) June 14, 2019
The announcement came amid a flurry of talks between Mexico City, Washington and their Central American counterparts in recent weeks and months, pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump's interest in reducing the number of unauthorized border crossers and asylum seekers entering the U.S. from Mexico.
The Mexican government said this week that it is hosting 11,922 Central Americans who were returned by the U.S. to Mexico to await their immigration hearings.
Trump threatened to impose tariffs on goods from Mexico beginning this week if a deal was not reached on time.
The U.S. is also attempting to broker an accord with Guatemala in another attempt to curb people traveling from or through Central America to the U.S.