The head of Mexican Immigration leads a surprise operation on the border with the US.

Around 100 agents from the National Migration Institute (INM) of Mexico led by the national commissioner, Francisco Garduño Yáñez, carried out an operation in collaboration with local authorities on the border of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico with El Paso in the United States.

The members of the federal entity carried out an inspection along the banks of the Rio Grande, but did not find migrants. As of the afternoon of April 1, no security has been made known.

Another part of the contingent took a tour next to the Plaza de la Mexicanidad in Ciudad Juárez, another point that has been used on other occasions by migrants to make camps in the city.

Does not give statements to the press

The commissioner refused to offer information about the spectacular operation. “Nothing, nothing,” was Garduño Yáñez’s response to the journalists.

Garduño’s visit occurs precisely one year after the fire in which 40 migrants, from Guatemala, Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras and El Salvador, died in an INM establishment in Ciudad Juárez.

On the Mexican side of the river, no migrants remain

Migrants generally do not remain on the Mexican side of the river, because they immediately cross the river and get “safe” from the Mexican authorities on the US side.

Shortly before the operation, fifty migrants managed to cross the razor wire fence and made their way to the border wall, where they were only waiting to be transferred to a US immigration station.

In the last week, point 36 of the border between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas has been used by more than a thousand migrants to reach the US side and begin their asylum or refuge process.

A 77% increase in irregular migration

The border between Mexico and the United States has been the epicenter of the migratory flow since 2023, when Mexico reported an increase of nearly 77% in irregular migration with more than 782,000 undocumented foreigners detected.

Tension has risen since last year, when Texas Governor Greg Abbott put up a barbed fence, which he refuses to remove despite a ruling by the US Supreme Court.

Now it seeks to implement Law SB4 so that state authorities can carry out immigration tasks, a power of the federal government.

Keep reading:

• The US and Mexico have deported more than 20,000 Guatemalan migrants in 2024
• The Texas National Guard, overwhelmed by a wave of migrants at the border
• Migrants and activists describe Texas law SB4 as inhumane, and regret that it is used for electoral purposes