Migrants in limbo: With US out of reach, Mexico becomes their final destination
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The banks of the Suchiate River in southern Mexico, on the border with Guatemala, are sometimes called "the silent border" of the United States. Tens of thousands of migrants pass through there every year. Although the United States is their goal, Mexico often ends up being their final destination. FRANCE 24's Laurence Cuvillier, Matthieu Comin and Jean-Marie Lebrun report.
With US President Donald Trump's return to the White House, the message to migrants couldn't be clearer: you shall not pass, not even by legal means. The US president has demanded that his Mexican counterpart Claudia Sheinbaum deploy 10,000 members of the Mexican National Guard along the 3,000-kilometre border separating Mexico and the United States. The aim is to deter migrants from even attempting the journey.
The impact has been immediate. In February 2024, more 140,000 people were apprehended by the US Border Patrol while attempting to cross the US-Mexico border. By February 2025 – Trump's first full month back in office – that figure had plummeted to barely 8,000.
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But what's happening at Mexico's southern border, where tens of thousands of migrants pour into the country each year to begin the long, perilous trek northward? What is the situation along the Suchiate River, the natural frontier between Mexico and Guatemala? Will those migrants be welcome in Mexico?
The Mexican government has not clarified its position on whether to host or send back the thousands of undocumented migrants travelling through the country. With no clear instructions, migration officers and security forces are dispersing migrant caravans and sending some migrants to centres, from where they will be sent back to their countries of origin. However, they let most of them go. For those migrants who remain in Mexico, the procedures for obtaining legal residency remain long, laborious and uncertain.