Mexico Details 1 Million People Trying To Reach US

Around 1.39 million undocumented migrants from 177 countries traveled through Mexico in a bid to reach the U.S. in the first five months of this year, the Mexican government said on Sunday.

The figure suggests this year may be on track to bear witness to more migrants entering the country without entry papers compared to last year. Some 2.4 million in total people crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without the correct documents in 2023, according to the Voice of America news outlet.

Immigration remains a divisive subject as politicians across the political spectrum battle about the best way to deal with the skyrocketing numbers seen in recent years. One of the largest mass crossings in living memory was caught on camera when over 1,000 migrants filed into the U.S. at El Paso, Texas, in December 2022. Republican Governor Greg Abbott threatened to bus migrants to Washington, D.C., while other GOP governors sent troops to the border in January this year sparking fears of a U.S. "civil war." This month, President Joe Biden issued an executive order suspending asylum processing for southern border migrants when numbers exceed 2,500 per day, a move that has proved controversial with some immigration groups.

The latest figures, which were released by Mexico's National Institute of Migration, a government agency that monitors immigration, showed that the majority of those heading to the U.S. were men traveling alone. There were 738,270 solo males compared to 362,979 women traveling alone. Almost 3,000 youngsters were making the trek alone too, according to the figures, which recorded 2,992 unaccompanied minors.

Others traveled with friends or relatives; some 154,291 people were making the journey with their families.

The largest group by country were Venezuelan migrants, with 377,401 people hoping to make a new life in the U.S. Other countries ravaged by economic instability, gang crime, or drug cartel violence were also represented on the list, with people from Guatemala (209,540), Honduras (144,499), Ecuador (136,699), and Haiti (107,432) completing the list of the top five most-represented countries.

But migrants came from across the globe; some 13,780 Chinese citizens were seeking to enter the U.S., along with 8,914 migrants from India, officials said.

Newsweek has reached out by email to the White House seeking comment on the Mexican government's figures.

Newsweek has also emailed Mexico's National Institute of Migration.

Officials did not reveal data on Mexican immigrants to the U.S. in Sunday's press release, which focused on foreign nationals inside the country.

According to data from the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan fact tank, the most common country of birth for unauthorized immigrants actually living in the U.S. was Mexico, with 4.1 million Mexicans living in the States without permission in 2021—although the number was declining and was at its lowest since the 1990s.

Immigration is not a one-way street through.

Mexico has seen a surge in American migrants. Experts suggested the cost-of-living crisis had fueled the spike, with some looking for cheaper rents and prices. The number of Americans heading to live in Mexico more than doubled in the first four months of this year, compared to the same period last year. There were 310 U.S. migrants between January and April in 2023, while there were 625 this year, most of whom were men.