Mexico: Trade Deal Guarantees COVID-19 Vaccine To Mexican Workers In U.S. Regardless Of Immigration Status

Gobierno de Mexico

Mexican leaders said Wednesday that the U.S. must ensure Mexican workers in the United States have access to the coronavirus vaccine regardless of their immigration status. Not to do so would violate a free trade agreement implemented last year.

Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said the labor section of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) requires the United States to vaccinate migrant workers, including millions who are undocumented.

"It's the responsibility of each of the two countries to guarantee that all workers, independent of their migration status, receive the vaccine," he said, adding: "It is an established right that workers must not be exposed to infection."

He said the exclusion of any Mexican workers from COVID-19 vaccination programs would violate the trade agreement, potentially leading to penalties "also agreed to by the three countries."

Mexico is also responsible for vaccinating migrant workers in its country, according to Ebrard. But it’s unclear what access other U.S. expats will have to the vaccine in Mexico.