Migrants Aren't Crossing Over to the U.S. Anymore — They're Staying. Here's Why Mexico Became the Destination.

Migrants remain stranded in Mexico after the cancellation of their CBP One appointment through the Paso del Norte international bridge to El Paso, Texas, United States, from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico on January 20, 2025. Minutes after his inauguration, US President Donald Trump said that he will issue a raft of executive orders aimed at reshaping citizenship and immigration issues stating that he will declare "a national emergency at our southern border" and that "all illegal entry will immediately be halted". (Credit: Photo by HERIKA MARTINEZ / AFP) (Photo by HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

• Ciudad Juárez's migrant shelter network has shrunk to 18 facilities running at roughly 15% capacity, as fewer people attempt to reach the United States.
• Nearly half of migrants surveyed in Mexico in 2025 — 46% — now call the country their final destination, nearly double the 24% who said so in 2024.
• U.S. Border Patrol logged just 6,073 southwest border arrests in January 2026, a 93% drop from the two-decade monthly average, and Washington marked 14 straight months without releasing an unauthorized migrant into the country by July.

Empty beds tell a different story than they did two years ago. In Ciudad Juárez, the shelter network for migrants has shrunk to 18 sites and is running at roughly 15% capacity, a sign that fewer people are even attempting to reach the other side, according to Reuters reporting. Most of the people still occupying those beds aren't trying to cross anymore. Many fled violence inside Mexico itself and found temporary shelter close to home.