Students and relatives of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa take part in a protest in Mexico City, on September 26, 2016, to commemorate the second anniversary of their disappearance. PHOTO: AFP
MEXICO CITY: Mexico is scrambling to ready its diplomats in the United States to handle millions of undocumented migrants' potential needs following Donald Trump's election, its foreign ministry said Sunday.
The ministry's North American team huddled with Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu Saturday to "analyse the results of the US election and discuss concrete actions concerning the future of the bilateral relationship" between the two countries, according to a statement.
The meeting follows the Republican billionaire's victory last Tuesday in a campaign which saw him call illegal Mexican migrants "rapists" and pledge to build a wall along the southern US border.
Trump firm on agenda but says Americans have nothing to fear
Not only has Trump vowed to make Mexico pay for the wall, but he has also threatened to renegotiate the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Mexico, the United States and Canada.
Ruiz Massieu urged diplomats to get ready for a possible surge in consular assistance.
This includes help "avoiding provocations, as well as protecting against fraud," the Foreign Ministry statement said, referring to the potential for crime rings to prey on migrants by selling fake documents, for example.
Trump vows to immediately deport up to three million immigrants
The US president-elect on Sunday told CBS television that as many as three million undocumented immigrants with criminal records would be deported or incarcerated.
The United States has an estimated 11-12 million undocumented migrants, mostly of Mexican origin.
"The rights of Mexicans, inside and outside their country, are not negotiable," the Foreign Ministry stressed.
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