U.S. policy drove migration into the shadows, raising costs and danger

It was still dark as hundreds of migrants walked along a road in Tapachula, Mexico, headed north to the United States as police emergency lights flashed.

America's influence colors the mass of migrants.

One wears Dak Prescott's Dallas Cowboys uniform. Another sports a New York Yankees baseball cap. Yet others wear a Nike t-shirt and a Tommy Hilfiger hoodie, iconic brands coveted by U.S. teens.

The group of migrants — young men and women, and parents with their children — made up one of the last caravans in January 2025 to be quickly dispersed by Mexican immigration officials as they attempted to head toward the U.S.

The migrants were motivated by frustrations with the glacial pace of Mexican immigration officials processing their documents and well-founded concerns over the pending ina