As migrant numbers in Mexico continue to fall, a priest reveals what the figures don’t tell

Official figures show a drastic drop in irregular migration in Mexico and in encounters between undocumented migrants and U.S. authorities at the U.S.-Mexican border.

However, a priest who has been helping migrants for over a decade points to a reality that goes unrecorded: routes that are less visible, more expensive, and exposed to organized crime networks.

In Mexico, according to figures from the Migration Policy, Registry, and Personal Identity Unit, the number of recorded instances of individuals with irregular migration status fell from over 1.2 million in 2024 to 155,730 in 2025 . As of May of this year, the total stands at 18,083 cases .

On the U.S. side, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recorded 443,671 encounters at the southwest border during fiscal year 2025, compared with 2.1 million the previous year. So far in fiscal year 2026, the figure stands at 90,121.

This trend also reflects the shrinking number of people assisted by Catholic shelters.

Located halfway along the route of those seeking to reach the north of the continent, the Mexican city of Puebla is also seeing a drop in the number of migrants arriving to seek help at Catholic shelters.…