The key facts

  • Sheinbaum: since Trump's return to power, not a single migrant caravan has reached Mexico's northern border
  • The caravan in Arriaga (Chiapas) shrank from 500–600 people to fewer than 100
  • Trump threatened to immediately double tariffs on Mexico if it does not stop the caravans

Exchange of statements amid tariff threats

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said at a press conference on Thursday that since Donald Trump's return to the White House, not a single migrant caravan has reached the country's northern border. The statement came just hours after the US leader threatened to immediately double tariffs on Mexico if it fails to stop the caravan movement, Anadolu reports.

What is happening with the caravans

According to Sheinbaum, two caravans are currently on the move. One formed in the city of Arriaga in the southern state of Chiapas with 500–600 participants, but, according to her data, fewer than 100 people remain in it. The second caravan set out from Honduras and, according to the president, is receiving 'humanitarian assistance and treatment based on human rights.'

The positions of the two sides

Sheinbaum explained that the authorities help migrants return to their home countries or allow them to stay in Mexico under certain conditions; the vast majority, upon learning that they will not be able to cross the US border, return to their countries of origin. Trump, for his part, wrote on Thursday on his social network Truth Social that 'huge caravans are forming and beginning an illegal march through Mexico,' and demanded that Mexico stop them 'right now,' otherwise tariffs would be immediately doubled — 'no exceptions.' Thus, the two sides differ even in their assessment of the situation: Trump speaks of large caravans forming, while Sheinbaum speaks of their shrinking and of keeping them away from the border.