First Migrant Caravan of 2025 Leaves For The U.S., Mexican Authorities Seek To Dismantle It

Nearly 1,000 migrants departed from the municipality of Tapachula, in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, with the United States as their final destination in what has been regarded the first migrant caravan of 2025.

Mostly composed by Venezuelan migrants, the group seeks to reach the U.S.-Mexico border before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20 as they anticipate stricter rules and heightened enforcement measures given his promises to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in American history.

During the early morning hours of January 2 men, women and children began the nearly 1,000-mile journey with the small town of Viva Mexico as their first stop along the Chiapas coastline. As they continued to advance, Mexican news outlet Milenio reported that some migrants opted to use public transport, fragmenting the large group into smaller ones that were seen in municipalities along the region such as Huixtla, 25 miles northwest of Tapachula.

Advocacy groups were seen along the trek to provide migrants with humanitarian aid. According to local media, no incidents have been reported to Mexico's National Institute of Migration (INM) involving migrants being detained or deported so far.

This is not the first and likely won't be the last time migrant caravans decide to make their way to the United States' southern border.

Between January and August of 2024, Mexico recorded the presence of at least 925,085 migrants, a rise of more than 130% compared to the nearly 400,000 migrants that were reported inside Mexico in 2023.

Trump has pledged to impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods from Mexico and Canada until these countries "solve" undocumented migration and illicit fentanyl trafficking into the United States.

As Mexican authorities fear Trump will make true of his intentions, INM personnel tried to prevent the migrant caravan from leaving Tapachula. Local media says immigration agents tried to convince migrants to stay by promising them a temporary permit that would allow them to transit legally within the state of Chiapas.

Hurdles faced by migrants

As Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to curb the flow of migrants reaching the United States, officials in Mexico have continued to dismantle the so-called caravans headed northbound.

According to El País, all six caravans that left from Chiapas in November and December were disassembled hours after crossing the Chiapas-Oaxaca border while another caravan made it as far as Veracruz, but was later intercepted by Mexican officials.

It is estimated that around 3,000 of the more than 4,000 migrants that formed the caravans were detained by authorities. Hundreds of them are then transferred to other states in Mexico via buses. In return, migrants are offered humanitarian visas to allow them free transit across Mexico, but the visas are only granted to a few people depending on their case or status.