By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-20 14:37:01 | Updated at 2025-01-20 17:03:15
2 hours ago
On the eve of the Donald Trump inauguration, migrants waiting in Mexico saw their window to enter the US closing.
Monday marks the end of Democrat Joe Biden's presidency, where a record-shattering 10.5 million migrants poured into the country, according to federal statistics.
The incoming Republican administration plans to shut down the border and carry out mass immigration raids as a matter of priority in the first days of the Trump's second term in office.
Trump is expected to sign 200 executive orders within hours of taking the oath of office, including some that would end many of Biden's policies that have allowed the historic influx at the border.
As the clock wound down before Trump's return , the thousands of estimated migrants waiting in Mexican border cities had a decision to make: make a last-minute effort to get in before Trump takes office or wait it out in Mexico.
'We're asking God that he gives President (Trump) clarity and that he takes mercy on us and understands that we are here to work hard, that he give us a chance,' Venezuelan Jorge David Pena, 28, told DailyMail.com as he washed car windows of coins on Juarez streets Sunday.
The Mexican government (under pressure from the US) has visibly stepped up its effort to stop migrants from ever reaching the border.
Migrants including David Alexandro Primero, 24 told Daily Mail they hoped Trump would give them a chance
David Alexandro Primero, 24, of Venezuela, washes car windows in Juarez, Mexico, to make enough money to pay for a motel room each night
A Venezuelan migrant who spoke with DailyMail.com washes car windows to collect money on January 19, 2025, the eve of President Donald Trump's inauguration, in Juarez, Mexico
Mexican National Guard patrolled a popular give-up spot where migrants in Ciudad Juarez - just across the border from El Paso, Texas - have routinely turned themselves in to US Border Patrol during the Biden years.
There was no surrendering Sunday, as assault rifle wielding guard members moved up and down the banks of the river that separates the two nations, stopping and detaining anyone who tried.
'It's been quiet, hardly anyone here today,' one guardsmen explained to DailyMail.com.
Throughout the weekend, Mexican law enforcement swept through northern cities, targeting migrant camps.
In Chihuahua City, about five hours south of the international border, some 80 immigration officers raided a migrant camp Saturday, where families have built make-shift homes and had been living for nearly a year, reported El Diario de Chihuahua.
As law enforcement moved in, some migrants armed with machetes resisted as they feared being deported to their home countries.
Mexican National Guard patrols their of the border on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration, in Juarez, Mexico-- just across the border from El Paso, Texas
Mexican authorities have been rounding up migrants in northern cities of that country ahead of Trump's return to the White House
Migrants react during an eviction operation carried out by Mexican authorities, while the makeshift camp where they lived catches fire, in Chihuahua, Chihuahua state, Mexico January 18
A family of migrants watch in horror as their encampment burns down after a migrant started the blaze to prevent Mexican immigration officials from rounding up migrants
Desperate migrants started a fire to give them a chance to escape.
Of the 150 migrants, including children, living there, only 39 were detained while the rest escaped.
For many migrants in Juarez, their decision on cross was made on personal circumstances.
One family of Hondurans begging for money on a busy intersection told DailyMail.com they had previously been kidnapped by Mexican cartels for 15 days.
While they were desperate to get out of the freezing temperatures they endured while sleeping on the streets at night, they also didn't want to risk a failed attempt to get into the US.
'With three kids, it's riskier. If it was just me and my wife, we would have definitely already tried to cross illegally, but we have to think about them,' the dad said, pointing at his three little ones.
Others said they had been in Juarez, patiently waiting for nearly a year for a CBP One App appointment, the Biden Administration's legal way to request asylum at the border.
'We want to do do things right, enter legally, so that tomorrow, we can have a future in America,' David Alexandro Primero, 24, of Venezuela.
When asked about Trump's plans to end CBP One, he said he would enter the US illegally to make his way to New York City, but he wanted to give Trump's administration a few days and see what enforcement action is carried out.
For others, the choice was simple: get across while you can.
Pena's girlfriend paid smugglers in Juarez to sneak her into the US just west of El Paso, in an area near Sunland Park, New Mexico, on Sunday.
'Most of us don't have the money to get smuggled in,' Pena added. 'We're talking dollars, $4,000. That's not cheap.
'That stops a lot of people from crossing. Why do you think this border is filled with migrants waiting. Many of them don't have the money to cross. '
Pena believed she had made it through and would be waiting for him in Texas until he could join up with her.
Meanwhile, in Sunland Park, Border Patrol spent Sunday night filling up a bus of illegal immigrants they detained.
The area west of Texas' sixth largest city is a popular human trafficking corridor as the no-man's land where Texas, New Mexico and Mexico meet offers a mountain range where migrants can be funneled through.
A mother and her child were among those who paid thousands for their chance to enter America just before Trump regains power, only to be caught and likely deported back to their home country.
