Migrants from all over the world who began a trek to the United States under then-President Joe Biden’s open-border policies are now heading back home or choosing not to try to come under President Donald Trump.
On his first day in office, Trump signed a series of executive orders bolstering border security and re-implementing first-term policies Biden scrapped such as “Remain in Mexico,” all of which led to dramatic decreases in illegal crossings.
As such, the changes in policies have discouraged migrants from departing for the U.S. while causing others who were enroute to turn around, as noted by Reuters in a video report published this week.
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In February, the New York Post reported that the White House had implemented an almost complete crackdown on migrants at the southern border, often not even asking whether individuals were seeking asylum. As a result, officials and sources say, many migrants have simply given up and turned back.
Migrants are stopping and turning back “due to increased border security” following President Trump’s termination of the Biden-era “catch and release” policy, the deployment of additional troops to the border, and the launch of a nationwide mass deportation effort, Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks said on X.
Authorities in Honduras said they encountered a group of 26 migrants from Venezuela and Cuba who were “traveling south back to Nicaragua,” along with another group of 23 individuals from Honduras, Venezuela, Panama, and El Salvador who were “turning back from Mexico,” Banks added.
“These individuals cited the heavy security posture along the U.S.-Mexico border and Mexico’s containment efforts as key reasons for reversing course,” Banks wrote. “Families in these groups made a life-saving decision, avoiding the dangers of cartel-controlled territory, where extortion and violence are rampant. Our enforcement efforts are working.”
The Trump administration has effectively adopted a “zero tolerance” approach toward migrants, including those claiming asylum, according to sources.
Migrants attempting to enter the U.S.—whether legally or illegally—are now immediately returned to Mexico if they are from Central America or several other designated countries, or turned over to ICE for detention and eventual removal, Homeland Security sources told the outlet.
Border Patrol agents are no longer required to ask migrants whether they wish to seek asylum, The Post noted. “It’s not the same as it was before, where we would have to ask them the questions,” said a source.
Word of the crackdown appears to be spreading, The Post noted. On one day in February, Border Patrol recorded just 303 migrant encounters at the Texas border, a dramatic drop from the roughly 8,000 daily encounters seen in December under the Biden administration.
Of those who do make it across, only a small fraction are permitted to remain in the U.S. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed last week that just 461 migrants encountered at the southern border during the first two weeks of the new administration were allowed to stay, roughly 6% of all those who interacted with U.S. enforcement agents.
Leavitt explained that the small number of migrants allowed to stay were either not considered ultimately deportable or had urgent medical needs. A senior Department of Homeland Security official cited one such case involving a man suffering from liver failure.
In stark contrast, during Biden’s tenure, approximately 5,000 migrants—or about 70% of those encountered—were allowed to remain in the U.S. on a typical day in December.
Alongside ramping up domestic enforcement to address the border crisis, Trump also pressured Mexico to act, threatening a 25% across-the-board tariff unless the country deployed 10,000 troops to its own southern border, a move Mexico ultimately complied with.
