Trump announces tariffs on Mexico in effort to stop migrants coming to the US

esident Donald Trump announced Thursday that a new 5% tariff will be imposed on Mexico in an effort to pressure the country to stop the ongoing influx of migrants from Central America making their way to the U.S.-Mexico border.

"On June 10th, the United States will impose a 5% Tariff on all goods coming into our Country from Mexico, until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP," Trump tweeted, adding that the "tariff will gradually increase until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied."

Trump's announcement is the latest move from the White House to try to prevent migrants — the majority of whom are coming from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — from crossing into the United States via Mexico.

A 5% tariff will begin on June 10, but would be removed if Mexico takes "effective actions" to alleviate the "illegal migration crisis," which will "be determined in our sole discretion and judgment," Trump said in a separate statement issued by the White House shortly after Trump's tweet. However, "if the crisis persists" tariffs will increase to 10% on July 1, Trump also said in the statement.

Mexico’s new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, took a similar approach after assuming office in December after vowing during his campaign he would not do the “dirty work” of the United States. His government started issuing one-year humanitarian visas to migrants arriving in Mexico, allowing them to work and cross the country without having to hire a smuggler.

But all that assistance came to a halt in recent months. López Obrador’s administration ended the visa program, ordered bus operators to stop ferrying migrants across the country, and started arresting and deporting far more Central American migrants.

In April, Mexican immigration officials and federal police detained 371 migrants marching in a caravan in the largest operation to date against migrants. Local police departments have even blocked off roads leading to town centers where residents had previously welcomed migrants with open arms.

Immigration has been a policy focus for Trump since early in his 2016 presidential campaign, when he promised to build a wall along the southern border and blasted Mexico for "not sending their best."

Since then, the president's rhetoric has gotten more intense.

He has repeatedly called the influx of migrants from Central America an "invasion." Many of the migrants are heading to the U.S. to seek asylum from growing gang violence and economic turmoil. Most recently, Trump has said that "our country is full" and that the U.S. can no longer take migrants.

"As President of the United States, my highest duty is the defense of the country and its citizens," Trump said in the statement issued by the White House. "A nation without borders is not a nation at all.  I will not stand by and allow our sovereignty to be eroded, our laws to be trampled, or our borders to be disrespected anymore."