Mexico apprehends more than 5,200 migrants in 1 day

MEXICO CITY

Mexican authorities announced Wednesday that they detained 5,234 migrants across the country.

The operation was conducted Tuesday by the Navy and military as well as immigration authorities.

The move came amid pressure on Mexico from US President-elect Donald Trump to step up efforts to stop migrants from coming into the United States.

It also follows a phone call last month between Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Trump, during which he claimed that she “agreed to stop migration through Mexico” and to the United States.

But Sheinbaum’s account of the conversation differed from Trump’s.

“In our conversation with President Trump, I explained to him the comprehensive strategy that Mexico has followed to address the migration phenomenon, respecting human rights,” she said in a post on X.

“We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders but instead build bridges between government and people.”

Trump has threatened to impose 25% import duties on Mexican goods if the country does not stop the flow of migrants and drugs across the border.

While Sheinbaum has championed her government's migration policy, citing that migrant encounters at the Mexico-US border decreased by 75% between December 2023 and November 2024, the situation at Mexico’s southern border reflects a different reality.

According to the Migration Policy, Registration and Identity of Persons Unit (UPMRIP), as of July this year, more than 229,379 migrants from Latin America, Asia and Africa had entered through Mexico through Chiapas, a southern state bordering Guatemala.

This represents an uptick of 24% compared with 2023 and an 80% increase compared with 2022.

President Sheinbaum also lauded what is being labeled as the largest seizure of fentanyl in the country's history, furthering her commitment to the incoming Trump administration.

According to Mexico's Federal Public Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch, Mexican security agencies seized a ton of fentanyl equivalent to 20 million fentanyl doses. The shipment, which was reportedly destined for the US and Canada, was worth around $400 million.