Mexico Now Surpasses U.S. Border Patrol in Apprehensions of Illegal Aliens

In the wake of a policy shift made by Mexico’s outgoing president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, new data uncovered by Reuters shows that Mexico is now apprehending more illegal aliens than the U.S. Border Patrol. This surge in apprehensions is part of, as Reuters calls it, Mexico’s “largest ever migrant crackdown.”

The crackdown began in earnest in January 2024, when the outgoing Mexican President stepped up efforts to apprehend illegal migrants heading towards the U.S. and either fly or bus them to southern regions of  Mexico. As Reuters reports, the government of Mexico – which in 2023 said it did not have enough resources to enforce its immigration laws – suddenly added additional manpower and then invested $30 million in migrant flights and $65 million in migrant busing contracts to move illegal migrants from the north to the south. Mexico has also dramatically reduced the issuance of “humanitarian visitor cards” by 97 percent. These cards, issued by the government of Mexico, allow migrants to travel through Mexico without being detained. In 2024, the Mexican National Migration Institute, responsible for issuing the cards, closed 10 offices throughout the country.

The result has been a dramatic rise in migrant apprehensions by the Mexican military. In April of 2024 the Mexican government apprehended nearly six times the number of migrants it apprehended two years earlier. Since then, the number of apprehensions by Mexico has eased somewhat, but still total nearly 100,000 per month. By comparison, the Border Patrol is currently apprehending around 50,000 to 60,000 migrants per month between ports of entry.

Not surprisingly, Mexico’s dramatic policy reversal followed a December 2023 conversation between President Joe Biden and President Lopez Obrador. While neither government has revealed specific agreements stemming from that conversation, since the call the Mexican government has dramatically increased its cooperation in addressing the border crisis. Academics and officials have described Mexico’s effort to apprehend illegal migrants as “absolutely crucial” to the reduction of illegal immigration at the U.S. southern border.

While illegal border crossings began to drop in January of 2024, the Biden-Harris administration has attempted to take credit for it, pointing to a relatively ineffective border proclamation issued months later in June. However, to take credit for that drop ignores the clear shift in Mexico’s stance towards the migration crisis—and the fact that Mexico can reverse its position at any time, unleashing a wave of migrants who are eager to push north towards the United States.

Mexico’s willingness to initiate the crackdown on migrants, per a senior Mexican official, is for the purpose of keeping the illegal immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border out of the spotlight during the 2024 presidential election – to the advantage of the Biden-Harris administration. But it is unclear how long Mexico can, or has the will to, sustain this crackdown, and migrants know that after the election the Mexican government’s policies may be reversed and mass illegal border crossings allowed to resume.

Since its first days in office, the Biden-Harris administration has pushed open-borders policies and dismantled interior enforcement, leading to a disaster at our borders. Now, in response to massive backlash from the public, the administration is attempting to hide the crisis from the American public. But outsourcing our border security to Mexico won’t reverse the Biden-Harris administration’s border crisis. Only real policy changes can accomplish that.