Trump’s immigration crackdown leaves Mexican border shelters largely empty as migrants stay put

Since Donald Trump returned to office and ended the CBP One application that scheduled asylum appointments, migrant flows toward the United States have dwindled sharply. In Ciudad Juárez, shelters that were once filled with families hoping to cross are now operating at about 15% capacity, according to Juan Fierro of the Good Samaritan shelter. Salome Villena, an Ecuadorian mother, says the new U.S. policies forced her family to abandon their crossing plans and stay in the city.

Dirvan Garcia of the state population council Coespo reports a shift in the shelter population, with most occupants now being Mexicans displaced by local violence and only a few from Venezuela, Colombia and Central America. Budget cuts have halved the number of shelters in Coespo’s network, and deportations are increasingly conducted by air to southern Mexico or other nations.