Image source: Erick Escoto – IOM 2023
In January 2025, around 500,000 migrants were in various stages of transit on their way to the US-Mexico border. When the border was abruptly closed by President Donald Trump, those migrants were left with uncertain futures. Some gave up and began their long journeys home, others decided to stay where they were and still others just waited. The governments of the countries through which migrants transited – from Colombia to Mexico – were particularly impacted by changes in US immigration policy.
This report, a joint endeavor of Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of International Migration and the Center for Latin American Studies and supported by The Americas Institute, examines the impact of changes in US policies on the transit countries with particular attention to the cuts in US assistance, the closing of the US border, deportations and the likely taxation of remittances sent home by migrants.