Mexico asks US to find solution for DACA immigrants

Mexico City, Sep 15 (IANS) Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto asked the US to find a permanent solution for the beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, most of which are of Mexican origin.

Pena Nieto on Thursday made the remarks while speaking by phone with the US President Donald Trump. In turn, Trump was optimistic that the US Congress "would reach a solution for the young people that are today under this program," the Mexican presidential office said in a statement.

During the phone conversation, Trump expressed "his condolences and solidarity to Mexico for the damages caused by the earthquake and Hurricane Katia", while Pena Nieto expressed his solidarity with the US for the impact Hurricane Irma had on the US state of Florida, Xinhua news agency cited the statement.

Last week, the US government announced the end of DACA, a program passed by Barack Obama to protect almost 800,000 undocumented migrants from deportation.

Beginning in June 2012, DACA stopped thousands of young people who came to the US as minors, also known as Dreamers, from being deported and allowed them to work if they have a high school diploma and a clean criminal record.

According to government and academic research, the decision to revoke DACA will affects over 700,000 Mexican citizens in the US

Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department announced Thursday that it had imposed sanctions on seven Mexican entities and individuals for their links to the country's drug trafficking organisations.

The designated entities include restaurants, a bakery and a pharmaceutical distributor, which were believed to have supported Mexican drug trafficking activities or tied to drug cartel network.

"Treasury continues to untangle and expose the web of businesses controlled by designated Mexican drug kingpins and their expansive trafficking networks," said John Smith, Director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The sanctions would freeze any assets that a blacklisted person or entity holds under US jurisdiction and ban any US individuals or companies from making business deals with them.