Mexico Is Currently Apprehending More Migrants Than The US. How Will That Affect The Elections?

The number of migrants being caught by the United States authorities at the border is reportedly dropping, partly due to Mexico's efforts.

The U.S.' Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehended 54,000 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in September, which was down from 250,000 in December 2023.

This change has eased some tension around immigration, which polls show was an issue, where voters showed more trust for Republican candidate Donald Trump more than Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, Reuters reported.

On Sept. 24, at a remote military checkpoint located about 25 miles south of the border city Ciudad Juarez in the Mexican desert, immigration officers loaded a group of migrants onto a bus heading south.

Such instances were part of Mexico's efforts to manage migration. This effort included a growing plan to transport non-Mexican migrants by bus and plane to the southern parts of Mexico, far from the U.S. border, public data and several U.S. and Mexican officials revealed to Reuters.

It also involved increased detentions and added administrative steps, based on public records and conversations with U.S. and Mexican officials.

Justin Gest, an immigration expert and professor at George Mason University said, "A border perceived to be out of control is fuel for Donald Trump," while Mexico's crackdown acts like "water over that fire" as far as the Biden administration was concerned, Reuters reported.

These measures were intended to exhaust migrants so that they abandon their journey before reaching the U.S. Mexico was also expected to transport about a third more migrants to its southern states this year by bus.

A migrant from Venezuela, named Jose Díaz, was detained by immigration agents in Tijuana, a city near the northern border, and then taken by bus over 2,000 miles to the southern city of Villahermosa. This journey took three days in early September.

"They send you back and then you have to head north all over again," Díaz said.

Harris mentioned U.S. border numbers in her campaign to show that the Biden administration has been strict on border issues. Meanwhile, Trump has been using harsher and more intense language about immigrants, but he has focused less on Mexico than he did during his 2016 campaign.

Mexico's newly inaugurated President, Claudia Sheinbaum, has said she plans to work with whoever becomes the next U.S. president, while the foreign ministry said the country's migration strategy was not connected to the election.