Some 1.39 million migrants from all over the world have entered Mexico in 2024 through May, most of them trying to reach the United States without proper documentation, the country's National Migration Institute said in a report.
According to its statistics , the nearly 1.4 million migrants came from a total of 177 countries, meaning there was representation from most countries in the world, as the United Nations recognizes 193 member states.
The figure can be compared to the more than 2.4 million people who crossed the US-Mexican border without the necessary documents in 2023, according to US numbers quoted in a Voice of America article.
The outlet highlights that the influx hit a record of 10,000 individuals per day in December, though it has declined as both countries have cracked down on such crossings.
With the migrant crisis at the forefront of this election cycle, President Joe Biden recently issued an executive order that essentially bars migrants from seeking asylum at southern U.S. ports of entry once a certain threshold is reached and deports them to Mexico or their home countries.
Mexico is seeking an agreement with President Joe Biden for the United States to deport asylum seekers and migrants to their countries of origin rather than Mexico, to avoid overwhelming neighboring cities with returned migrants.
In the recent statement, the Mexican institution reported that the majority of irregular migrants were men traveling alone (53 percent), totaling 738,270, while 26 percent were unaccompanied adult women (362,979).
The list continued with 154,291 adults traveling in family units, accompanied by 135,151 minors. The number of unaccompanied minors traveling through Mexico without legal documents en route to the United States was 2,992, according to the Latin American country's government.
Family units and unaccompanied children were directed to be cared for in spaces of the National System for Integral Family Development (SNDIF), the statement says.
"The INM complies with current immigration laws and works within the framework of unconditional respect for the human rights of the migrants who travel through our country. Once rescued, they are no longer at the mercy of criminal groups and human traffickers."
Migrants detected in the first five months of the year were primarily from South America, the Caribbean and, to a lesser extent, African countries such as Senegal and Guinea.
The unaccompanied minors were from Venezuela, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, El Salvador, Colombia, Haiti, and Nicaragua.
Top origin countries of migrants traveling through Mexico to the U.S.:
- Venezuela - 377,401
- Guatemala - 209,540
- Honduras - 144,499
- Ecuador - 136,699
- Haiti - 107,432
- Colombia - 70,371
- El Salvador - 52,636
- Nicaragua - 45,364
- Peru 28,167
- Cuba - 27,404
- Senegal - 20,847
- Guinea - 19,922
- Dominican Republic - 16,228
- China - 13,780
- Brazil - 11,058
- Mauritania - 9,757
- India - 8,914
- Angola - 7,037
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