With Iran's national football team set to be based in Tijuana, Mexico, for the upcoming World Cup, our reporters Laurence Cuvillier and Matthieu Comin travelled to the Mexican city known for being one of the most dangerous in the world. Until recently, this border city with the United States was the main crossing point for Mexican migrants seeking the American Dream. But with US President Donald Trump's return to power, everything has changed. Tijuana has become a dead end.
It was one of the very first consequences of Trump's return to the White House. On January 20, 2025, right in the middle of the inauguration ceremony, the CBP One app suddenly stopped working. It had enabled migrants to enter the United States legally to submit their asylum applications. With its disappearance, the American Dream for hundreds of thousands of people had evaporated in a second.
Watch moreAfter deportation from US, Mexican 'retornados' struggle to rebuild their lives
If there is one city that epitomises the full impact of the tightening of US immigration policy, it is Tijuana, the main crossing point with Mexico. The Mexican border city has effectively become a dead end. In addition to migrants stopped in their tracks, others have been sent back there by the US authorities. These are often people with no legal status in Mexico either. Tijuana is still one of the most dangerous cities in the world, but it is also a place of intense solidarity.
