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Mexico says it has sent nearly 15,000 troops to US border

Mexico is using thousands of troops and police to support immigration enforcement as agreed in a deal with the United States.
Credit: AP
National Guards provide perimeter security at an immigration checkpoint in Arriaga, on Mexico's southern border, Sunday, June 23, 2019. Pressured by the U.S., Mexico’s government has deployed some 6,000 agents of the National Guard, its new militarized policing force, along its southern and northern borders this month. (AP Photo/Oliver de Ros)

Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said Monday that Mexico has deployed about 15,000 National Guard members in the country's northern region bordering the U.S. 

The move follows an agreement with Washington to further support efforts to stem the flow of migrants into the U.S.

The newly formed National Guard in Mexico is formed from soldiers, marines and federal police, according to Reuters. Sandoval explained that the forces are "providing support" at the country's northern and southern borders. 

"Migration is not a crime, it is an administrative responsibility," Sandoval said, according to CNN. 

Additionally, the border city of Nuevo Laredo is to begin receiving migrants returned from the United States as early as this week to wait in Mexico while their asylum claims wind their way through U.S. courts, Mexican officials said Monday.

Mexico and Washington agreed to expand the program often referred to as "remain in Mexico," during earlier talks that headed off threatened U.S. tariffs on Mexican goods.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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