Two Trump administration initiatives have driven down traffic, locals say: the “remain in Mexico” program requiring people to wait out their asylum cases south of the border, and the threat to slap tariffs on Mexico unless it cracked down on migrants crossing through it.
The State Department has issued warnings advising against travel to Mexican border states and the president has considered labeling cartels as terrorist organizations. But Trump officials continue to downplay the violence in cities where "remain in Mexico" is in place.
The camp began forming last summer in Matamoros, Mexico, and now an estimated 2,000 people, many of them children, live in squalid conditions as they wait weeks or months to request U.S. asylum.
The man, whose immigration case received "administrative closure" from a U.S. judge, was detained by Border Patrol agents at a highway checkpoint. Lawyers say the agents went too far, but federal officials say otherwise.
Migrants crossing at the Texas border fluctuate in the face of Trump administration policies. Recent executive actions coupled with long-standing federal regulations have caused a spike in refused entries.
A federal court ruled last week that the U.S. government could reject asylum seekers who failed to seek protection in other countries first — but only applied the ruling to Texas and New Mexico. Will that push migrants to try their luck in Arizona and California?
Migrants are being bused to Monterrey and Chiapas under an ever-changing and often brutal “remain in Mexico” program carried out in a partnership between Mexico and the Trump Administration.
The Mexican government has converted a former factory into a shelter that could potentially house thousands of migrants. But in El Paso, a number of churches have closed their emergency shelters as the number of migrants has dropped.
In Nuevo Laredo, some migrants have decided that waiting in Mexico for a U.S. asylum hearing that could be months away is untenable and are returning home.
A couple in Ciudad Juárez has opened their home to shelter Central American migrants hoping to obtain asylum in the U.S. The migrants risk their safety every time they leave the house.
The Trump administration's new policy aimed at disqualifying most asylum seekers is stirring anger and resentment among migrants who have waited months to present themselves at a port of entry.
The Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley Sector has seen a large spike in cases of rhabdomyolysis—severe dehydration and overexertion—among migrants this year. Border agents say smugglers are to blame for treating migrants like "cargo" and pushing them too hard.
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