Mexico's immigration policy seems to shift: Border Watch with Jonathan Mejia
FOX 26's Jonathan Mejia Border Watch with Jonathan Mejia newsletter
Border Watchers,
We made it into the new year. It's been a busy one already with several things going nationally. We started the new year with tragedy. The deadly attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans that took 14 innocent lives and a Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas were both ruled terrorist acts. Initially, social media posts fueled speculation the suspect in the New Orleans attack, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was an illegal migrant, but that was not true.
We're a little under two weeks from Inauguration Day and we’re seeing a lot of activity already happening on both sides of the border. Mexico has agreed to receive non-Mexican deportees. Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced her decision, one that could reshape U.S.-Mexico relations. Sheinbaum says her administration is open to collaborating with President-elect Donald Trump to use Mexico as a deportation hub once he is back in office. The agreement would allow the U.S. to deport non-Mexican migrants to Mexico, where they would be processed before being repatriated to their home countries. Sheinbaum emphasized that such cooperation would come with stringent conditions to ensure humane treatment of migrants and financial support from the U.S. for Mexico’s immigration infrastructure.
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This announcement marks a significant shift in Mexico’s immigration policy and signals a potential return to collaboration reminiscent of the "Remain in Mexico" policy. That policy was administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and required migrants seeking asylum to remain in Mexico until their U.S. immigration court date. The policy was initially ended by the Biden administration, and after some legal battles, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on June 30, 2022, in Biden v. Texas, the administration had the authority to end the policy. This announcement comes on heels of a new caravan that just left southern Mexico, heading to the United States with an expected arrival before January 20.
PREVIOUSLY ON BORDER WATCH: Immigration in 2025: Border Watch with Jonathan Mejia
After Mexico's announcement, many eyes turned to Honduras. The Central American country threatened to end U.S. military cooperation over Trump’s mass deportations. Honduran President Xiomara Castro has expressed strong opposition to President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, particularly those from Central America. In a recent address, she warned that if such deportations proceed, Honduras would reconsider its cooperation with the United States, especially in the military realm. Castro emphasized that the U.S. military has maintained a presence in Honduras for decades without financial compensation. She suggested that if Hondurans are expelled en masse, the U.S. military presence would lose its justification. Castro expressed hope for dialogue with the incoming Trump administration.
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In a post on X, Texas Senator Ted Cruz responded to Castro: "Hmm. In 2023 the Biden admin sent $193 million in foreign aid to Honduras. In 2024, Biden sent at least $120 million. What I hear Honduras’s president saying is they don’t want any more American aid. Great! Glad to oblige…."
I will be heading south again for Inauguration Day, and I look forward to bringing you live reports at the border. I'm also finishing my special report from the Rio Grande Valley that will be streaming on FOX Local.