Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Hundreds of former migrants have gathered at the camp in Ciudad Juárez, on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, waiting to cross into the United States. But as President-elect Donald J. Trump prepares to take office on Monday, few people were seen last week on the already packed sidewalks.
All that was left was a dead fire, discarded shoes, a shirt and a toothbrush.
One Mexican city after another reported similar conditions along the border with the United States, where the number of migrants has steadily declined in recent months. The decline is largely due to strict restrictions introduced by the Biden administration and Mexican and Panamanian authorities designed to curb immigration.
As President Biden grew under pressure during his re-election campaign to curb immigration, he issued an executive order barring undocumented immigrants from receiving asylum in June. This month, US border officials recorded 83,532 illegal crossings, a significant decrease from the previous month’s 117,905.
Despite the decline, illegal crossings remain higher than during most of Mr. Trump’s first term, prompting calls from the Trump administration. news, and even by some Democrats in Congress, for tighter restrictions on immigration to the United States.
Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, whom Mr. Trump picked to run the Department of Homeland Security, told senators on Friday that she planned to roll back Trump-era policies to crack down on searchers. asylum to stay in Mexico for the duration of the case in the United States and reduce the time. immigration relief for people from countries experiencing conflict.
“Border security must remain a priority,” Ms. Noem said.
Some Latin American officials are pushing back, saying strict restrictions on both sides of the border have worked to stem the crisis.
“The movement of migrants from southern Mexico to the border has decreased in recent months,” said Enrique Serrano Escobar, who heads the Chihuahua State office responsible for receiving migrants. resident. “There is no crisis,” he said of Ciudad Juárez. “No problem.”
Today’s quieter border contrasts with recent years of frequent border tragedies, including family separations and a 2023 house fire. immigration detention in Ciudad Juárez where dozens died.
Thousands of migrants are still trying to make their way north even as authorities tighten restrictions on both sides of the border. But mostly, the movement across the Darién Gap, the impenetrable bridge connecting North and South America, and the possibility of shelter in major US-Mexico border cities such as Ciudad Juárez and Matamoros became symbols of the flow of immigration.
“Usually we have around 150,” said Lucio Torres, who has overseen a shelter in Nuevo Laredo, across the Rio Grande, for three years. The shelter can accommodate 300 people. This week, only seven houses.
Mr. Serrano Escobar said the migrant shelter run by the government and civil society in Ciudad Juárez, which can accommodate about 3,000 migrants, is only about 40 percent full. this is the moment. “The city is calm,” he added.
In November, more than 46,000 people crossed the border illegally, the lowest number during the Biden administration. There were more than 47,000 illegal crossings in December. By comparison, in December 2023, illegal crossings exceeded a record of about 250,000.
Mexican law enforcement officials said they detained more than 475,000 migrants in the last quarter of 2024. That’s a nearly 68 percent increase from the same period last year. a year earlier, according to government data.
Solsiree Petit, 44, a Venezuelan teacher in Ciudad Juárez, said she had a tumor in her breast and needed surgery. She said her sons, ages 10 and 17, turned themselves in to US authorities seeking asylum a week ago. He said he had an appointment with US Customs and Border Protection in El Paso to submit his own asylum application on January 29.
He said he hoped his nomination would continue to be honored under the Trump administration. “I’d rather not think about it,” he said, “because it depresses you more.”
CBP One, the phone app Ms. Petit used to schedule her appointments, allowed U.S. immigration officials to process nearly 44,000 immigrants at ports of entry in December.
While the Biden administration created the app to discourage immigrants from entering the country illegally, Ms. Noem, the Homeland Security nominee, said she would eliminate the use of the app, reflecting the Republicans suspect it was used to allow immigrants into the country. countries that should be barred from entering.
Similar to the tense situation found in Ciudad Juárez, the Pumarejo shelter in Matamoros, which can accommodate 1,500 people, currently has only 260, according to shelter officials. In Tijuana, three popular shelters said they were only 50 percent full.
The shelters in Guatemala City only house migrants heading north, said Karina López, a social worker at the city’s Casa del Migrante shelter. Years ago, the shelter with more than 100 beds tried to take care of more than 3,000 exhausted migrants. Those numbers are unheard of today, Ms. López said. This is due to the fact that people do not stay for a few hours in their rush to the border before the isolation, he said.
Fear of violent crime and kidnapping is also believed to be keeping some migrants from fleeing organized crime havens in Mexico. Instead of seeking refuge there, some choose to stay with acquaintances, in rented rooms or with their smugglers as they try to approach the border, legally or illegally. law.
“I don’t care if the devil stops me, I will go forward,” said Juan Hernández, a manual worker from Honduras. Mr. Hernández, 45, said he had lived in the United States for 23 years and had been deported five times. He arrived in Monterrey, a major industrial center in northeastern Mexico, six months ago after being exiled in Honduras following a drunken driving conviction in North Carolina.
She said she planned to cross the border again soon to see her two children who live in Raleigh, NC.
Today, immigrants like Mr. Hernández seem to be in the minority. Not long ago, in the historic center of Guatemala City, the sidewalks were filled with people asking for money or food for their children, many of them wearing national flags. Venezuelan. This week most of them were absent.
In the Darién Gap, the number of migrants has dropped significantly after the Panamanian government imposed strict restrictions to complement the new asylum policy of the Biden administration.
Two years ago, boats filled with people trying to reach the jungle left Necoclí, a Colombian beach town at the southern end of the jungle, every day. Migrants often took pictures of the boat journey and shared the images on social media, where they became a representation of the migrants’ last moment of protection before entering the jungle. the dangerous Darién Gap.
Today, the days go by where there are not enough immigrants to fill a boat. The boat leaves every two or three days, but it is not always full.
In August 2023, 80,000 migrants passed through Darién in one month. In December, fewer than 5,000 people passed through, according to Panamanian authorities.
However, as Trump’s inauguration approaches, smugglers have continued to encourage immigrants to the border and avoid the possibility of persecution. Fearing it might be their last chance to enter the U.S., some have begged friends to lend them money or turn over their home deeds to smugglers as collateral, the businessman said. refuge.
One option offered by smugglers and referred to by migrants as the “VIP route” is to move migrants from Guatemala to Cancún, Mexico, by land, and from Cancún to Ciudad Juárez by plane. using fake Mexican passports, said Ms. López, the social worker. . The price of a one-way flight on this route increased by about 450 dollars this week.
After the inauguration, the price dropped to about $100.
The report was submitted by Anie Correal from Guatemala City; Julie Turkewitz from Bogotá, Colombia; Chantal Flores from Monterrey, Mexico; Edyra Espriella from Matamoros, Mexico; Aline Corpus from Tijuana, Mexico; SY Emiliano Rodríguez Mega SY Rocio Gallegos from Mexico City.
