Mexican border shelters empty as Trump crackdown deters migrants heading north

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, Sept 8 - Migrant shelters along Mexico's northern border are emptying as fewer migrants head to the United States following President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and mass deportation campaign.

For Salome Villena, an Ecuadorean migrant who once planned to cross into the U.S. with her husband and two children, aged 4 and 6, the shifting landscape of U.S. immigration policy helped change those plans. Instead, the family has decided to remain in Ciudad Juarez, where they are among the few people still staying at a local shelter.

"Our intention was to cross into the United States, but because of what Trump did, we couldn't," Villena said, referring to policies that have made legal migration routes more difficult to access.

The family also considered paying a smuggler to take them across the border, but abandoned the idea after they said the man began stealing their money.

Trump's return to office abruptly closed off one of the main legal pathways migrants had used to enter the U.S., ending the CBP One app that allowed asylum seekers to schedule appointments at ports of entry. The move left thousands of migrants stranded in border cities such as Ciudad Juarez and prompted Mexican authorities to prepare for a surge in deportees by opening emergency shelters.

Many of those facilities, however, remained largely empty as migrant arrivals fell and deportations were often carried out by air to southern Mexico or other countries.

The drop in migrant flows has been felt across Ciudad Juarez's shelter network. Juan Fierro, who heads the city's Good Samaritan shelter, said Trump's policies had sharply reduced the number of new arrivals.

"It's becoming increasingly complicated and difficult for people to reach Mexico's northern border and cross into the United States," he said.

The shift has altered the makeup of the city's migrant population, said Dirvan Garcia of the state population council, Coespo.

"We are living something completely different," Garcia said. "There are a large number of people who initially intended to cross the border but are now putting down roots in the city."

Garcia said steep budget cuts and a decline in migrant arrivals had reduced the number of shelters in Coespo's network by nearly half, to 18. Yet occupancy remains around 15%, with most residents now Mexicans displaced by violence.

Those who are not Mexican are primarily migrants from Venezuela, Colombia and Central America, he said. REUTERS