Mexico’s immigration system is under pressure due to external policies, the threat of mass deportations of migrants already in the United States, and the possible elimination of the CBP One mobile app from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which would leave thousands of migrants stranded throughout Mexico with no clear path forward.
Mexico’s immigration system has struggled to manage its increasing number of migrant arrivals since the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly families fleeing countries like Venezuela. The migrant population has nearly doubled since 2018. Many people are also arriving with children. According to the Ministry of the Interior’s Unit for Migration Policy, Registry, and Identity of Persons, the number of migrant children and adolescents in the country rose by 514 percent in 2024 compared with 2018. The highest increase was the number of children aged eleven and under, which grew by 837 percent during the same period.
The CBP One app, launched at the end of the first Trump Administration and expanded during the Biden Administration, aims to provide a legal pathway for asylum seekers by scheduling appointments at U.S. ports of entry. This system was designed to reduce reliance on human traffickers and irregular crossings. According to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, the app has enabled more than half of migrants to enter the United States legally, reducing irregular crossings by 75 percent between December 2023 and November 2024. However, this success has led to a surge in irregular entries into Mexico, with more than 925,000 migrants arriving between January and August 2024—double the previous year’s total.
Shelters are overcrowded, and temporary camps have appeared in many cities, including Mexico City. Conditions are poor, with migrants lacking access to clean water, sanitation, and health care. Many children in these camps are deprived of education and safe spaces to play, heightening their vulnerability.
The Human Rights Commission of Mexico City has stressed “the need to address migration with a human rights perspective, focusing on priority groups such as children and adolescents.”
Civil society, religious groups, and international bodies like the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees are overwhelmed by the growing demand for support. Migrants face exploitation, violence, and insecurity while in limbo, with no clear solution. At both the northern and southern borders of Mexico, migrants are frequently targeted by cartels, criminal gangs, and corrupt authorities—all of whom have turned migration into a highly profitable business.
The threat of mass deportations by the United States further complicates Mexico’s role. With thousands of migrants already in the country, the prospect of increased deportations places immense strain on Mexico’s immigration system. The government must balance protecting migrants’ rights with its ability to manage an unprecedented influx of people. Despite Mexico’s public commitment to human rights, its infrastructure is not equipped to address the scale of the crisis.
Editor's note: Following Donald Trump’s Inauguration, on January 20, an announcement was posted on the CBP website announcing that the functions of the CBP One app were “no longer available, and existing appointments have been canceled.”

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Mary Angles, thirty-seven, is a Venezuelan woman who arrived in Mexico City with her husband and four children, ages two through fifteen. When the family first arrived, they were told about a camp where they could stay, but when they got there, all the tents or makeshift shelters made of wood and plastic were already taken. They were informed they would need to buy one, which cost them 1,500 pesos (73 U.S. dollars). They’ve remained there while waiting for their CBP One appointment. Mary’s husband and older son have found work in construction, doing whatever they can to support the family. But their situation took a turn for the worse when her husband asked a group of young people who were making noise late at night to quiet down. In response, he was physically attacked. Mary’s husband is currently in the hospital recovering from his injuries, and her family has been told they must leave the camp.

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Yusneidi, her four children, and her brother traveled from Venezuela with a group of thirteen people. They managed to survive crossing the dangerous jungle of the Darién Gap and arrived in Mexico City, where they have been living for more than seven months. While waiting for their CBP One appointment, Yusneidi prepares tajadas with rice and beef to feed her family. Her youngest child was born in Mexico. Her brother is working on fixing their shelter to make it more comfortable and better protected from the cold. Yusneidi’s husband is in Florida, where she hopes to reunite with him soon.

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Evelyn, a twenty-year-old woman from Honduras, travels with her two young daughters. She is a survivor of gender-based violence and was once kidnapped by a cartel between Ciudad Hidalgo and Mexico City. She was held captive for several days, along with her small children, without anyone to pay their ransom. In the end, another migrant, who was also kidnapped, took pity on them and paid 75 U.S. dollars for each of them to be released. After nine days in captivity, they were finally freed. Now, Evelyn is waiting for her CBP One appointment. It is difficult for her to work without anyone to help care for her two young children. She says they have endured a lot of hunger on the streets and are struggling to get by.

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A religious group collects food donations from several congregations and brings meals to the people living in the camp whenever they can. The camp, however, lacks essential services like potable water, bathrooms, or any support from the local government. All the resources provided to the people at the camp come from donations gathered by civil society groups and churches. In the absence of proper facilities, camp residents have to pay to use the bathrooms at nearby businesses. This situation highlights the precarious living conditions many migrants face while waiting for their legal processes to be completed.

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Children play outside the tents at a migrant camp in Mexico City. The Venezuelan political and economic crisis has led to a dramatic increase in migration to Mexico, with numbers rising from 400,000 in 2019 to 700,000 in 2023, peaking at 2 million detentions in 2022, according to the International Organization for Migration (these figures represent attempts to cross, not individual people, as many repeat attempts are included). These camps have emerged due to the growing migrant population and the lack of sufficient government-provided shelter. Many migrants are waiting for appointments to enter the United States or to normalize their status. Once they obtain humanitarian visas or are able to secure their status, they may be able to move into more stable housing.

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A Venezuelan boy, wearing a jacket that evokes Captain America, plays in front of a plastic and wooden structure that serves as a temporary home, where he lives with his family. They have been waiting for months for a CBP One appointment. He is not enrolled in school, as the family lives in a temporary camp in precarious conditions, without any support from the government of Mexico.

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Luciana, who requested her real name not be used, is a Colombian woman living in the migrant camp near the Central del Norte bus station in Mexico City. She speaks on the phone, with a U.S. dollar bill taped to the back of her phone case. Like many others in the camp, she is waiting for her CBP One appointment, hoping for a chance to move forward on her journey.

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Armaris, a twenty-one-year-old Venezuelan woman, was more than eight months pregnant when she arrived in Mexico. Just a few days after arriving, she gave birth. She travels with her partner, another Venezuelan woman, and together they’ve been in Mexico for three months. They have applied for an appointment via the CBP One app and are currently waiting for the opportunity to reach Mexico City. They spent twenty days at a migrant camp in Ciudad Hidalgo, which was managed by immigration authorities. During that time, they were forced to pay 200 pesos (9.75 U.S. dollars) to Mexico’s National Institute of Migration, which migrants said felt like an extortion demand, in order to be allowed to leave the camp. After that, they began walking toward Mexico City, but due to Armaris’s advanced pregnancy, they couldn’t continue for long. They had to stop and work for several days to gather enough money to continue their journey. Now, they are still in the process of trying to make their way to Mexico City, hoping to complete their migration journey and eventually reach a safer future.

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Women living in the migrant camp in Mexico City wait to receive a plate of food offered by members of a church. Other groups also deliver hygiene products and donate clothing, toys, and more. The camp is organized to maintain a certain level of security, especially at night, and the residents work to maintain its basic cleanliness.