Between Transit and Destination

Mexico occupies a dual role, both as a transit country for migrants seeking to enter the United States, and as a popular destination country itself. Between 2020 and September 2025, Mexico received close to 500,000 asylum applications. In 2025, asylum seekers arrived primarily from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Honduras. Migration management has long been a shared concern for Mexico and the United States. In the 1920s, Mexicans were exempt from U.S. immigration quotas. From the 1990s onward, cooperation increasingly focused on border security and joint efforts to combat drug trafficking. These evolving arrangements have shaped the broader framework through which both countries manage migration in the twenty-first century.

U.S. Border Measures

In 2025, President Donald Trump’s second administration declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border. The administration subsequently  reduced funding  for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), a significant source of support for Mexico’s asylum system.  The U.S. also moved to curb northward migration from Mexico by shutting down the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) One application. The platform had allowed asylum seekers travelling through Mexico to schedule appointments with CBP before reaching the U.S.-Mexico border.  Upon receiving confirmation of appointment, applicants remained in Mexico until their designated crossing date.  The app stopped working in January 2025. As a result, 30,000 people with confirmed CBP One appointments became stranded in Mexico. In March 2025, the app relaunched as CBP Home to facilitate the self-deportation of migrants already in the United States.

Mexico’s Asylum System

Mexico is party to both the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention as well as the 1984 Cartagena Declaration. The Cartagena framework broadened the legal definition of a refugee across Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition to those fleeing persecution, it opened pathways to protection of individuals escaping generalized violence, internal conflicts, foreign aggression, or widespread human rights violations. Mexican immigration law also dictates the principles of non-refoulment, non-discrimination, prioritization of children, family unity, and the prohibition of penalty for irregular entry.

COMAR’s Growing Caseload

Asylum applications are processed by the Mexican Committee for Refugee Assistance (COMAR). In addition to refugee status, COMAR may grant complementary protection to those who do not meet the full criteria of a refugee, but who could face death, torture, or other forms of cruel or inhumane treatment if returned to their country of origin. The scale of COMAR’s work has grown considerably. In 2024 alone, COMAR received nearly 80,000 asylum applications. Between 2020 and 2025, Mexico’s asylum recognition rate exceeded 60 percent. UNHCR serves as a key partner for COMAR and provides substantial financial support. In 2022, for instance, the agency reportedly provided roughly two-thirds of COMAR’s funding.

UNHCR Mexico’s Funding Crisis

After assuming office the second time, Donald Trump issued an executive order freezing all foreign aid. His administration subsequently moved to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the country’s principal foreign aid agency. Aid cutbacks have also affected the UNHCR. The United States contributed over $2 billion in 2024, less than $1 billion in 2025, and just over $100 million by May 2026.

Silvia Garduño, a spokesperson for UNHCR Mexico, explained that the agency works closely with NGOs and shelters. “When a shelter is a partner with us, we [can] fund the building of rooms that they need or we can deliver supplies that the shelter might need, [including] beds, everything that the shelter needs to run,” Garduño states. Following a 60 percent budget cut, however, UNHCR Mexico has scaled back its operations. The agency closed four offices, ended partnerships, and laid off nearly 200 employees. According to the director of the Scalabrini Foundation of Mexico, migrant shelters run by the Catholic Church that relied on UNHCR funding saw their budgets reduced in 2025. The cuts forced these shelters to scale back programs and services available to migrants.

CBP One Shutters

Garduño also described the immediate consequences of the cancellation of CBP One. “When CBP one was canceled, which was January 20, the next day, we began to see people lining up in really increasing numbers at COMAR, especially in Mexico City and in Tapachula,” she said.

The surge reflected a broader sense of uncertainty among migrants already waiting in Mexico. Pamela Mass Peréz, administrative coordinator of the Legal Clinic for Women in Migration described the psychological impact of the policy change: “[People became] more overwhelmed, more anguished, even not knowing what to do because they didn’t want to stay in Mexico, but they could no longer move forward and much less return to their countries for safety. That created a lot of instability throughout the population,” she said.

The Human Cost

According to a report by Pie de Página, the cancellation of CBP One was particularly devastating for migrants in the southern Mexican province of Chiapas. After completing the journey through the Darien Gap to get to Mexico, migrants waiting in Chiapas hoped that they could eventually schedule a CBP One appointment. Many spent months waiting in Chiapas, enduring assaults, extortion, and robberies. The dismantling of CBP One abruptly removed what many had viewed as their primary pathway to seek asylum in the United States. For those who had already endured one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes, the decision transformed a prolonged wait into an indefinite one.

What the Cuts Mean

Ultimately, the sweeping foreign aid pullback affects UNHCR’s staff, COMAR’s capacity, and all of organizations that UNHCR funded. Migrants and NGOs have expressed concern that UNHCR Mexico funding cuts worsened delays within Mexico’s asylum system. As of June 2026, UNHCR Mexico received $17 million of its nearly $100 million total funding appeal. This is lower than its appeals for the years 2024 and 2025, which respectively were about $121 million and $118 million. By the end of 2025, the agency received 28 percent of its nearly $118 million annual appeal. At the same time, the number of migrants residing in Mexico, not accounting for internally displaced persons, increased by approximately 93,000 between 2024 and 2025. In 2024, nearly 20,000 of the migrants seeking asylum in Mexico were children, including 700 who arrived in the country without an adult guardian. As asylum applications continue to number in the tens of thousands and financial support declines, Mexico’s migration infrastructure faces mounting pressure.