MEXICO CITY

Mexico’s government released updated figures Thursday that showed 109,000 of its nationals have been repatriated to the US since President Donald Trump began his second term in office.

President Claudia Sheinbaum reported that it was the figure was for those repatriated under the Trump administration since Jan. 20, adding that the number of migrants attempting to cross the northern border has dropped 91%.

Sheinbaum presented historical data on the number of Mexicans deported by the US government, beginning with former President Bill Clinton’s administration in the early 1990s. She identified Clinton as the president with the highest number of deportations, “with one year alone, 1.1 million Mexicans were repatriated,” Sheinbaum stated.

According to the figures, Clinton oversaw the largest deportation program in US history. During his two terms from 1993-2001, his administration deported 7,447,247 Mexicans. He was followed by Republican President George W. Bush with 4,653,516 deportations.

By contrast, Trump recorded the lowest deportation numbers in his first term from 2016 - 2020, with 766,055 repatriated.

The figure is significantly lower than those under his Democratic predecessors Barack Obama and Joe Biden, who oversaw 2,848,937 and 891,503 deportations, respectively.

Trump has criticized both for their “weak” approach to immigration policy.

Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has deported 109,000 Mexicans, with 82,049 repatriated in the last six months.

Sheinbaum defended her administration’s immigration strategy, claiming that since she took office Oct. 1, 2024, migrant encounters at the northern border have decreased 91%.

As of December 2023, US border authorities reported 15,000 encounters along the shared border. Currently, according to Sheinbaum, that number has dropped to between 200 and 300 encounters per day.

Following Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on Mexican exports, Sheinbaum pledged to help curb migration flows to the US. As part of that commitment, her government has deployed military troops to the northern border.