Mexican authorities announced on Friday that they have detained approximately 475,000 irregular migrants since October. This comes as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump continues to put pressure on Mexico, threatening to impose tariffs if the country fails to address the issue of illegal migration at the shared border.
Measures to intensify the detention of migrants increased towards the end of the year, as indicated by the nearly half a million migrants being detained between Oct. 1 and Dec. 26.
Earlier this month, the government reported that approximately 900,000 migrants have been detained since the beginning of the year.
“We believe that it is a working model, which can always be improved, but has responded very satisfactorily to this migration phenomenon,” stated Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente on Friday.
During President Claudia Sheinbaum’s regular press conference, it was revealed that the number of migrants detained at the shared border decreased by 81% in mid-December, compared to the previous year.
According to Israel Ibarra, a researcher on immigration issues at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte, the rise in detentions can be attributed, at least in part, to the commitment made by Sheinbaum to reduce the movement of people through Mexico and into the United States during a recent call with Trump.
In late November, Sheinbaum had a call with Trump in response to the Republican’s threat of imposing a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada. Trump demanded that these countries halt the influx of drugs, particularly fentanyl, and migrants.