<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-mexico-migrants/update-2-mexico-to-invoke-labor-rule-to-ensure-us-vaccines-for-illegal-migrants-idUSL1N2JO1JM" class="">https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-mexico-migrants/update-2-mexico-to-invoke-labor-rule-to-ensure-us-vaccines-for-illegal-migrants-idUSL1N2JO1JM</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class=""><font size="5" class="">Mexico to invoke labor rule to ensure U.S. vaccines for illegal migrants</font></b></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico will invoke labor provisions in the new North American trade pact in a bid to ensure that illegal migrants in the United States receive coronavirus vaccines, the country’s top diplomat said on Wednesday.<br class=""><br class="">Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told reporters at a regular government news conference that the labor provisions of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) include health protections for migrants regardless of their immigration status.<br class=""><br class="">Mexico’s government will seek to use the provisions to ensure that migrants receive coronavirus vaccines, he said.<br class=""><br class="">“We will invoke the labor chapter of the USMCA free trade agreement,” said Ebrard, emphasizing that the text recognized the “vulnerability” of migrant workers.<br class=""><br class="">It is the responsibility of both Mexico and the United States that all workers have guaranteed access to vaccines, he noted.<br class=""><br class="">“As a consequence, we consider any exclusion of Mexican workers... a violation,” Ebrard said.<br class=""><br class="">Mexico responded with concern last week after the governor of the U.S. state of Nebraska said undocumented migrants would likely not get vaccinated due to immigration status.<br class=""><br class="">The governor, Pete Ricketts, later appeared to partially backtrack, saying citizenship would not be checked prior to vaccination.<br class=""><br class="">Reporting by David Alire Garcia and Adriana Barrera; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Marguerita Choy<br class=""><br class=""></div><br class=""><div class="">
Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
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