In southern Mexico, where US and Mexican deterrence policies caused a major humanitarian crisis last year, local residents say crossings from Guatemala to the border state of Chiapas have significantly decreased. At the US southern border, numbers apprehended by US Border Patrol dropped from around 61,500 in January to 11,709 last month. And in the Darién Gap—the treacherous jungle migration route connecting South and Central America—crossings have also decreased dramatically, from 25,111 last September to just 408 in February.

But the stifling effect of Trump policies on the movement of people heading north is creating new challenges. People on the move are now stranded in precarious living conditions across Mexico, more exposed to potential abuses and violence, and deeply affected by the uncertainty of further policy changes ahead.

“Even though the number of people on the move may have fluctuated, we still have thousands of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Mexico who have urgent, unmet needs,” said Michelle Van Akin, associate director for humanitarian programs for Plan International USA.

Trump administration funding cuts to foreign aid have forced a reduction in services and are making it harder for humanitarian organisations to provide assistance, according to Van Akin. “The needs are staggering,” she added.

“The main problem is that migrants are stranded with no information about whether they will be able to apply for asylum [in the US] again or if there will be new norms allowing them to transit to the United States,” said Reinaldo Ortuño, Mexico and Central America medical coordinator at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Mounting needs
About 270,000 people were waiting to get an appointment to seek asylum in the United States through US Customs and Border Protection’s controversial CBP One cellphone application when Trump shut it down on January 20, the day he re-entered office.

People relying on the application for an opportunity to enter the US were left stranded along Mexico’s southern and northern borders, in Mexico City, and in more remote areas with fewer resources. Since it was launched in 2023, nearly one million people had been able to enter the US legally using CBP One. But people often had to wait for extended periods of time, living in precarious and often dangerous conditions before they were able to secure an appointment.

Aid groups say that many asylum seekers—having fled gang violence, political repression, and other crises throughout Latin America and the Caribbean—have not given up on the idea of crossing to the US and are waiting for new opportunities, hoping the policies will change.

In Mexico City, they have been setting up unsafe, makeshift camps, and thousands are also living in dire conditions in northern and southern Mexico.

“The main needs that we’ve identified include legal assistance to regularise immigration status, urgent medical care, including mental health support, and access to reliable information as well as basic needs like food, shelter, hygiene materials,” said Van Akin.

Enrique López, field coordinator for Doctors of the World in Tapachula, a city in the state of Chiapas along Mexico’s southern border where many asylum seekers and migrants first arrive from Guatemala, said that although the number of migrants crossing the border dropped in February, people continue to arrive.

Those still entering Mexico are mostly from Cuba, Honduras, and Haiti, and are still hoping to eventually reach the US, according to López. Others are coming to Tapachula from other states in Mexico, trying to return to their home countries, while many already in Tapachula are searching for work to support themselves and planning to request asylum in Mexico.

“They don’t do it by choice, but rather because transiting through Mexico has become more complicated and there are no ways to access the United States, if not irregularly,” López said. “The cases we see are more complex as migrants take more dangerous routes, are exposed to more risks, and don’t have the possibility to travel in large groups [to protect themselves] anymore,” he told The New Humanitarian.

Acute respiratory infections, skin diseases, and gastrointestinal problems are some of the most common health issues. Rape and sexual violence also remain major issues.

“We do case management for survivors of [gender-based violence], and the same number of cases continue to come in,” said López. “There are more risks, less services, and less funding to assist.”

Growing exposure to abuse
Organizations such as MSF have warned that sexual violence against migrants on the route between Colombia and Mexico is on the rise. In 2024 alone, the organisation assisted more than 700 survivors of sexual violence in Mexico and hundreds more in Central American countries—far more than the 232 they assisted in 2023.

For the many migrants escaping violence—and who have been subjected to violence while on the move—the prospect of having to return to their home countries and potentially relive the same abuses is particularly dreadful.

According to a poll led by the Danish Refugee Council, 26% of the migrants interviewed between October and December 2024 in the Mexican cities of Matamoros, Reynosa, and Tapachula said the reasons for leaving their country were threats, violence, and intimidation. Another 21% mentioned insecurity and general violence, and 12.7% persecution.

“It means a huge emotional burden, frustration, and anxiety, because by returning to the places they escaped they put their health and physical integrity at risk,” said MSF’s Ortuño.

A legal limbo
Some efforts have been made to help migrants who want to return to their country of origin. In early February, the UN’s migration agency, IOM, announced it was expanding its Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) program in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama to facilitate safe returns. In January and February, IOM received nearly 2,900 requests—three times more than during the same period last year.

But the Trump-induced crisis in Mexico is being compounded by shortcomings in migration policies across Latin America. There has been no coordinated response to address the situation by scaling up consular services to facilitate returns or by fostering integration initiatives in their respective countries: Migrants are often pushed to leave because of xenophobia and lack of opportunities.

An agreement between Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s administration and the Mexican government reportedly allowed more than 500 nationals to be repatriated. But for many, returning safely to their home countries—or to a country where they will feel safe—is not an easy prospect.

For migrants from other parts of the world—Indians, Afghans, Chinese, and others—stranded in Mexico, the hurdles are even higher. Local humanitarian workers say discrimination is common and language barriers compound other vulnerabilities. The Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid (COMAR), which handles asylum claims, and other institutions providing assistance to migrants often don’t have translators or the ability to understand the specific needs of people from all over the world.

Dwindling aid
As humanitarian needs mount, the Trump administration’s decision to massively cut funding for foreign aid makes it all the more difficult for aid groups to respond.

“We [at MSF] still have the capacity to provide support on the health front, but we notice the absence of other actors who play an important role in protection and other services,” said Ortuño.

The Adventist Development & Relief Agency International—a faith-based NGO that provides legal counsel, medical services, and internet access across Chiapas—was forced to reduce its assistance due to funding cuts, and Plan International had to shut down its child protection programs in Tapachula.

The New Humanitarian contacted several other organizations and agencies to find out whether they had to suspend some of their activities, but they refused to comment.

“That decision [to suspend foreign aid] is limiting us a lot, and we will have to see where to diversify funds,” a staff member at one affected organisation told The New Humanitarian, on condition of anonymity, adding: “Now, the salaries will be taken out of an emergency fund.”

The reduced presence of aid groups impacts other factors too, Van Akin said: “It makes it very difficult to have an accurate idea of how migration dynamics are changing because of the suspension of funding. It’s hard for us to be able to paint an accurate picture.”

— Daniela Díaz for The New Humanitarian, March 26 (condensed; some internal links added)

Reporting for this article was supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism. The New Humanitarian used transportation provided by Médecins Sans Frontières to secure access to migrants and staff in the organization’s mobile clinics in Tapachula and Suchiate. Additional reporting by Daniela Mohor and by Eric Reidy. Edited by Andrew Gully.

Photo of Tapachula migrant camp: Daniela Díaz for The New Humanitarian

According to the report, a local collective called the Jalisco Search Warriors on March 5 uncovered uncovered the site on an isolated ranch, where they found “bone fragments…hundreds of shoes, clothing items, charred human remains, and three underground ovens…”  The discovery was made while attempting to locate missing individuals or their remains, with local citizens organizing the effort in the absence of a sufficient response by the authorities.

The discovery raised concerns among family members about apparent mass killings tied to criminal cartels, drawing international attention to the ongoing crisis of disappearances in Mexico and the government’s failure to meaningfully respond.

Speaking of the discovery at Izaguirre Ranch in the municipality of Teuchitlan, HRW Americas director Juanita Goebertus stated: “President Claudia Sheinbaum should see this as a signal to undertake an urgent, nationwide effort to professionalize the investigation of crimes by state prosecutors’ offices.” Amnesty International has echoed this call, urging authorities to act expeditiously and open a comprehensive forensic investigation. Along with HRW, Amnesty emphasized that the Mexican government’s slowness to investigate or prosecute forced disappearances creates an atmosphere of “total impunity,” endangering family members of the disappeared.

The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) reported a staggering 111,521 persons missing in Mexico as of September 2023. The organization noted that under-reporting may indicate that actual numbers of missing persons are much higher. Jalisco, Tamaulipas and Estado de Mexico have the highest numbers of missing persons across Mexico, while 75% of missing persons throughout the country are men, and 25% are women.

HRW also condemned Mexican authorities in a 2023 report on the government’s failure to investigate homicides due to systemic problems such as high workloads, limited resources and lack of coordination in official search efforts.

From JURIST, March 20. Used with permission.

See our last reports on Mexico’s human rights crisis, and the body count.

Photo: Mtenaespinoza via Wikimedia Commons

Trump signed executive orders Feb. 1 to impose 25% import tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and a 10% tariff on China. The tariffs, which include a carve-out of a lower 10% levy on Canadian energy exports, were imposed under a “national emergency” exemption to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), citing a crisis of illegal migration and drugs. The tariffs on China remain in place, and are being challenged by Beijing before the World Trade Organization (WTO). (LatinVex, Atlantic Council, Jurist)

Photo: SEDENA via Peninsula360

From The New Humanitarian, Jan. 24

See our last reports on Remain in Mexico, CBP One, and Trump’s last state of emergency at the border.

Image: White House

Mexico also dispersed thousands of asylum-seekers and migrants from the southern city of Tapachula, close to the Guatemala border, where many first enter the country.

From The New Humanitarian, Sept. 29

Map: PCL

From The New Humanitarian, May 5

Note: Title 42 is only poised to finally end because the US public health emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic which it is based on expires on May 11.

Photo: Savitri Arvey, The Conversation

Since Title 42 was invoked, the Mexican government has only accepted the return of its own nationals and migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. But in October, the Biden administration convinced Mexico to accept expelled Venezuelan migrants as part of a deal in which Washington committed to allowing up to 24,000 Venezuelans to enter the US legally under the parole authority. In an expansion of this deal, Mexico has now agreed to accept Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitiains expelled under Title 42.

The administration will now begin expelling up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua back into Mexico each month, while allowing 30,000 from those countries to apply to live and work in the US for two years.

Under the parole program, migrants must have a legal sponsor within the US and undergo a vigorous background check. It also requires migrants to schedule a time to enter the US through a legal port of entry through the CBP One app.

The Biden administration also announced a new legal pathway for migrants who come to the US seeking asylum—also relying on the CBP One app. Asylum claims are currently the only exception to Title 42.

The abrupt policy shifts as litigation over Title 42 has been batted back and forth in the US courts has led to confusion in cities on both sides of the US-Mexico border. Squalid encampments have sprung up in Matamoros, Reynosa and other Mexican border towns as migrants await entry to the US.

Despite expansion of the parole program, migrant advoacy groups protested the expansion of Title 42. The Welcome With Dignity campaign said in a statement: “Title 42 is both a moral and policy failure. Despite this… the Biden-Harris administration seems intent on doubling down on President Trump’s xenophobia and cruelty.”  (Jurist, CBS, NBC, WOLA)

Photo via FWS

Photo: social media via Laredo Morning Times

The director of Pemex, Octavio Romero Oropeza, added that the Spanish firm had “all the advantages” in the Burgos contracts.

López Obrador also made reference to the Camisea project, which delivers gas to the Mexican port of Manzanillo from fields operated by a consortium including Repsol in the Peruvian Amazon. According to the Mexican president, the 2007 Camisea contract had not even been signed when “Repsol was already buying the gas in Peru, assuring that it had already been sold in Mexico.” (Europa Press)

On Feb. 7, Spain’s high court, the Audiencia Nacional, accepted appeals to re-open formal investigations into Repsol chair Antonio Brufau and Isidro Faine, former chair of Valencia’s Caixabank. The investigation, which had been suspended by a lower court, was exploring charges that Repsol and Caixabank hired Grupo Cenyt, a security firm belonging to Spain’s former national police chief Jose Manuel Villarejo, to spy on the then chair of Madrid construction company Sacyr, Luis del Rivero, in 2011 and 2012. The alleged aim was to block a joint takeover bid for Repsol launched by Sacyr and Pemex. (Jurist, Reuters, EuroNews)

The chronically mismanaged Burgos fields were opened to private development followiing a 2013 reform of the energy sector in Mexico. The initial Repsol contract was for exploitation in the onshore portion of the basin, straddling the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. In 2018, Repsol won leases in the offshore section as well. (S&P Global)

The onshore section had been particularly subject to the phenomenon of “narco-oil,” with criminal organizations pirating petrol and gas for sale on the illicit market. This remains a serious problem today. At least one person was killed and over a dozen injured when a Pemex pipeline in the central state of Puebla exploded last October, after it was breached by suspected fuel pirates. (Digital Journal)

Repsol is also currently under fire in Peru following a devastating oil spill at a refinery it operates outside Lima.

Photo via Digital Journal

This case will be one of the first lawsuits to test the United States-Mexico-Canada Act (USMCA), which was implemented by the Trump administration and now supersedes the 27-year-old North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The USMCA essentially upgraded NAFTA, adding new chapters to regulate digital trade, intellectual property, and anti-corruption and regulatory practices, as well as updating tariff schedules and environmental protections. The USMCA also focused on labor standards, requiring Mexico to make significant changes to its heavily-criticized labor laws. So-called “protection unions,” in league with management, have long been entrenched across Mexico’s industries.

The AFL-CIO complaint is brought under the new “rapid response” mechanism of the USMCA, added at the urging of congressional Democrats, which allows complaints of labor violations to be brought against individual factories, and not just against a corporation as a whole. The complaint comes after Tridonex workers attempted to organize with SNITIS, replacing the “protection union” at the plant. Over 600 workers were fired for their association with the union. Susana Prieto Terrazas, the lawyer representing the Tridonex workers, was also arrested and jailed by the Tamaulipas governor on “trumped-up charges,” and was only released after agreeing to leave the state of Tamaulipas.

In a press release, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said, “USMCA requires Mexico to end the reign of protection unions and their corrupt deals with employers… The ongoing harassment of Susana Prieto and SNITIS members is a textbook violation of the labor laws Mexico has pledged to uphold.”

This lawsuit will test how the Biden administration will respond to the first challenge under the USMCA, and whether the Democrat-led Congress will continue to push for labor reform in North America.

From Jurist, May 11. Used with permission.

Photo: Prensa Obrera