Mexico is rapidly becoming a ‘Plan B’ for many asylum seekers who had been attempting to enter the US prior to the advent of the Trump administration.

With tougher border and immigration policies now imposed in the US, thousands of migrants find themselves stranded in Mexico.

And they are opting for the second-best thing – a new life in Mexico.

The closure of the Customs and Border Protection (BP) app, which allowed would be asylum seekers to apply for one of 1450 asylum application slots, has stripped many migrants and asylum seekers of hope.

Also, now many migrants are baulking at crossing illegally into the US, fearing deportation.

In Mexico City, more than 3,000 people have camped at the Mexican Refugee Agency, known as COMAR.

In January, applications for asylum in Mexico more than tripled compared to the previous year’s monthly average.

Between January and August 2024, the Mexican authorities reported more than 900,000 instances of people in an irregular migration situation in Mexico, meaning they entered the country without a visa or other document authorising their entry or stay.

The country also ranked among the top five recipients of asylum claims globally.

Migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and even more distant places such as Afghanistan and Syria, have lined up outside the refugee agency, hoping for a legal pathway.

According to IOM, the UN Migration Agency, Mexico faces a labour shortage of five million workers, and migrants could fill those jobs. New visas could be a solution for those who want a job in Mexico.

For Venezuelan migrants fleeing a repressive regime in their homeland, Mexico offers more opportunities than the barriers many faced in South America.

Many had fled to Ecuador, Chile, or Colombia, only to encounter economic hardships, lack of legal status, and anti-immigrant policies.

For many of these people, Mexico wasn’t the original plan but now seems the only option.