August 4th came with news of nearly 500 immigrants planning on being snuck to the border for movement to the US. Located on the outskirts of Puebla, a city a few hours away from Mexico City, 491 migrants had been herded like cattle inside a walled compound. Of those inside, 277 were kids, and 52 were completely unaccompanied, according to CBS News. Historically, they have been loaded into trucks or buses for movement to the US border.
In response to this discovery, the National Institute of Migration stepped in to take them in and provided adequate food, water, and medical care. With the massive humanitarian crisis that Title 42’s end unleashed upon the country, Mexico has been making massive steps towards stopping the caravans of migrants. They shut down their migration offices along Guatemala that previously handed out papers to go north like puffy stickers. Neighboring countries south of Mexico have been trying to find and remove incentivization programs for wannabe migrants.
Yet the Darien Gap has already seen 250,000 known migrants cross between January and June 2023; that’s more than all of 2022 combined. This 66-mile stretch of incredibly dense jungle between Colombia and Panama is expected to see double its usual number of migrants per UNICEF predictions. Given that all but six were from Guatemala, and the other 6 were from Honduras, it would seem as if they have a decent hold on targeting a solution.
Even with this targeted solution, the main issue still stems from the US-Mexico border. With all the uncovered land, the lack of real punishment for violating US border laws, and their confident ability to try again if they fail, it’s a quest with very little downside. If they get tired of trying the more densely populated areas, there are hundreds of miles of remote wilderness they can try their hand in. Until the US does something serious, all the changes made by Mexico are for naught.