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STORY: :: FileMexico refused a request from President Donald Trump’s administration to allow a U.S. military aircraft deporting migrants to land in the country, said U.S. and Mexican officials.:: Guatemala City, GuatemalaOn Friday, two U.S. military flights and a commercial chartered flight transported about 80 migrants each to Guatemala.But the plan to have a C-17 transport aircraft land in Mexico did not move ahead, after the country denied permission. The U.S. State Department and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.In a statement on Friday, Mexico’s foreign ministry said it had a (quote) “very great relationship” with the U.S. and cooperated on issues such as immigration. “When it comes to repatriations, we will always accept the arrival of Mexicans to our territory with open arms,” it said. A Mexican official did not give a reason for the denial. Trump’s administration announced earlier this week it was re-launching the “Remain in Mexico” program.It forces non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in Mexico until their U.S. cases are resolved. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that such a move would require the country receiving the asylum seekers to agree, but that Mexico had not done so. Sheinbaum has expressed openness towards accommodating Mexican nationals who are returned.But the leftist leader also said she does not agree with mass deportations and that Mexican immigrants are vital to the U.S. economy.U.S.-Mexico relations have come into sharp focus since Trump started his second term with the declaration of a national emergency along the two nations' shared border.The Pentagon said the U.S. military would provide flights to deport more than 5,000 immigrants held by U.S. authorities in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California.
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