Dozens of foreign nationals were detained during unusual immigration raids in Mexico City, operations that have sparked fear among migrant advocates and raised questions about Mexico's increasingly aggressive enforcement tactics under mounting regional migration pressure.
Noticias Telemundo reported that at least two separate operations took place in the Mexican capital within the past week. In one incident, videos circulating on social media showed immigration agents stopping people on the street and asking for identification documents. Another operation in the upscale Polanco neighborhood reportedly resulted in the detention of 29 migrants. Days later, authorities detained another 15 foreign nationals at a guesthouse in the city.
The raids are considered highly unusual for Mexico City, which in recent years has functioned more as a temporary refuge and settlement point for migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, Central America and other regions rather than a site of high-profile immigration enforcement operations.
Detienen a decenas de personas extranjeras en redadas migratorias inéditas en Ciudad de México.
— Noticias Telemundo (@TelemundoNews) May 7, 2026
https://t.co/5NXigsAIyN
Since President Donald Trump returned to office and tightened U.S. immigration policies, migration patterns across Latin America have shifted dramatically. Many migrants who once viewed Mexico as a transit corridor toward the United States are now remaining in Mexico longer or abandoning plans to continue north altogether.
Spanish newspaper El País reported earlier this year that migration flows toward the U.S. southern border had sharply declined while more migrants were increasingly looking southward for stability or residency opportunities elsewhere in Latin America.
Official figures from Mexico's Interior Ministry reflect that broader trend. Mexico's migration policy unit recorded more than 155,000 "events involving migrants in irregular situations" in 2025, according to government statistics cited by the International Organization for Migration. While still high, the number represented a notable decline from previous years during the peak of regional migration surges.
Advocacy groups and legal experts have long warned that street-level immigration checks can lead to racial profiling and arbitrary detentions, particularly targeting Black migrants, Indigenous people or Spanish-speaking foreigners with accents perceived as non-Mexican.
Videos referenced in the Telemundo report appeared to show agents conducting document checks in public spaces, tactics more commonly associated with enforcement operations near Mexico's southern border or along migrant transit routes.
Mexico's National Immigration Institute, known as INM, has not publicly released detailed information about the detainees' nationalities, legal status, or whether any of them were asylum seekers or individuals with pending residency applications.
The operations also place Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's administration in a politically sensitive position. Mexico has repeatedly criticized U.S. immigration raids and detention practices, especially after several Mexican nationals died while in ICE custody in the United States earlier this year.
In March, Mexico's government described those deaths as "unacceptable" and announced diplomatic actions and international complaints regarding detention conditions in the U.S. immigration system.
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