Trump’s threats had an effect: they cleared the border between Mexico and the United States

Mexico, an invisible wall

The decrease in migratory flows is not only due to the tightening of the United States immigration policy, but also due to what has been done by the Mexican government.

Since the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, security was reinforced on the southern and northern borders to contain the migratory flow to the United States. However, in the face of Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs if the flow was not contained, “Operation Border” was launched from Mexico, which consisted of a deployment of 10,000 security elements.

In the report, Roots in the Storm: solidarity and dignity in an armored hemisphere (2025. Impacts of Migration Policy in the Americas in 2025), it is argued that Mexico has engaged in militarization and border control and externalization of its borders to contain the flow.

“Countries such as Mexico, Chile, Peru and Ecuador have deployed armed forces on their borders, not only for migration control but as a political response to the demand for ‘citizen security’… Following the American model, the governments of El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico have adopted ‘containment’ roles, with the same mechanisms with which they violate their fellow citizens when they migrate,” says the report from civil society organizations such as Global Exchange.

Although the migratory flow to the United States was reduced, Mexicans prevail as those who have been detained the most by US authorities.

Of the 691,906 encounters with migrants on the border with Mexico, 188,334 (27%) correspond to Mexicans.

Hundreds of migrants have also been returned to Mexican territory. Between January and December of this year, 145,537 repatriations of compatriots were reported, of which 116,156 were by land and 29,381 by air.

Lack of labor would increase flow

Although the flow of migrants to the United States has decreased, if they face a lack of labor, there could be increases again, explains José María Ramos García, professor at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte.

“The variable that will determine a more or less important increase will be the demand of the United States labor market,” he indicates.

But it will not be the only one, the specialist maintains that if human traffickers find ways to enter migrants into the United States, the flow may grow again.

“Historically it has always been a very profitable business for them and in a context in which it is decreasing very significantly, these groups would not want to see their profits decrease,” he points out.