The Mexican government blasted Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) on Thursday for deploying National Guard troops to the border.
The government said it “deeply rejects and condemns the deployment” and accused the possible 2016 presidential candidate of making the decision for political reasons.
{mosads}”Mexico underscores that it is irresponsible to manipulate border security for political reasons,” according to a statement released by the Mexican embassy in Washington. “We insist that the phenomenon of migration should be managed from a holistic and regional perspective through a medium term vision with shared responsibility which guarantees peace, inclusion and prosperity in the region.”
The government said the deployment will not bring a safer border and breaks with the nature of the U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship.
The first National Guard troops began deploying last month after Perry authorized up to 1,000 in July.
The condemnation from Mexico this week seemed to be a reaction to the governor’s office touting the mission in a press release Wednesday.
Perry’s office pushed back but said it looks forward to its continued work with Mexico on immigration issues.
“Our borders should not be open and vulnerable to exploitation by ruthless criminals,” press secretary Lucy Nashed said in a statement. “The governor is focused on ensuring drug cartels and other criminals don’t get a free pass into Texas and the rest of the nation because our borders are unsecured.”
Perry authorized the troops amid a surge of unaccompanied child migrants flooding over the U.S.-Mexican border, many coming from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
The surge has receded in the past few months. A total of 3,129 unaccompanied children were apprehended in August, down from a peak of 10,628 in June.
—Updated at 2:15 p.m.