MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico has a plan to receive deported Mexicans from the U.S. if President-elect Donald Trump launches mass deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday.
Sheinbaum added Mexico was also preparing to show the Trump administration that mass deportations were unnecessary, emphasizing the importance of Mexicans in the U.S., including the value of taxes they pay.
"We will receive Mexicans and we have a plan for it, but before that, we will work to demonstrate that they do not have to deport our compatriots who are on the other side of the border," Sheinbaum said. "On the contrary, they even benefit the economy of the United States."
Trump has vowed mass deportations and a vast immigration crackdown as soon as he takes office on Jan. 20. He could call on everyone from the U.S. military to diplomats overseas to turn the pledge into a reality. His running mate, JD Vance, estimated deportations could remove one million people per year.
Sheinbaum, who took office in October, said on Thursday that migrants should not be treated "as criminals" and has stressed the importance of humanitarian rights when dealing with migration, outlining a delicate balancing act with her future U.S. counterpart.
Sheinbaum said this week she will present Trump with a "humanistic approach" to controlling migration that addresses the root causes.
Her cabinet would be meeting on Thursday to discuss issues facing Mexico under the incoming Trump administration, including migration, trade and security.
Meanwhile, two caravans of migrants making their way towards the U.S. border are advancing from southern Mexico, including one which set out on Wednesday.
The other caravan started from the southern city of Tapachula two weeks ago and continues pressing onwards towards the border, though migration officials have said its size has reduced dramatically from the initial 3,000 participants.
Photos circulating on social media have shown Mexico's National Guard confronting the migrants and trying to block the caravans from moving north.
(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Raul Cortes; additional reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; writing by Cassandra Garrison; editing by Alistair Bell)
