MEXICO CITY (CN) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called for calm during a Tuesday press conference in response to President Donald Trump’s litany of executive orders aimed at Mexico.
On his first day in office, Trump designated “cartels and other organizations as foreign terrorist organizations and specifically designated global terrorists” and declared a “national emergency at the southern border.”
Trump also took U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s CBP One app offline, canceling all future appointments. The app allowed asylum-seeking migrants a legal pathway to the U.S. Since its expansion for asylum appointments, it processed 936,000 individuals.
“It is important to have a cool head,” Sheinbaum said. “We will always act in defense of our sovereignty and our independence.”
Mexico launched the “Mexico Embraces You” welfare program Tuesday for individuals deported from the U.S. during Trump’s term, which will be headed by the Ministry of the Interior as instructed by Sheinbaum.
The federal government is installing nine repatriation care centers as part of its program to assist deportees in finding employment and social programs within Mexico. The program will assist in pensions registration for seniors and people with disabilities and student scholarships through Mexico’s Social Security Institute.
The centers, to be located in the border states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas will also provide cellphone SIM cards, internet and food. Mexico’s armed forces will also provide security at the various locations.
The program will also include a “Paisano Welfare Card” containing 2,000 Mexican pesos, around $100, for Mexican nationals deported from the U.S. to assist in a safe return to their Mexican city or town of origin.
“We have had many months, several months, preparing for the repatriation of Mexicans who are in the United States, who know that the government has a National Repatriation Strategy … which provides our compatriots with an adequate reception and gives them certainty of the opportunities for a dignified life in their native country,” said Mexican Interior Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez, during Sheinbaum’s press conference on Tuesday.
Icela Rodríguez also pointed out that she will be working with Mexico’s National Population Registry and other civil registries to procure birth certificates and other identifying documents for deported individuals such as the Clave Única de Registro de Población, similar to a Social Security number in the U.S.
“In that country they got ahead, because the people of Mexico are very hardworking, honest and supportive, and we all know that migrants are not criminals; and now the government of Mexico is ready to receive them with open arms,” Icela Rodríguez said.
Also on his first day, Trump threatened 25% tariffs on Mexican imports beginning on Feb. 1 in response to illegal immigration and fentanyl arriving from Mexico.
He also signed an executive order to end birthright citizenship, which grants citizenship to children born in the U.S. to unauthorized immigrants. The executive order is being challenged in multiple lawsuits by states and civil rights organizations who claim it is unconstitutional.