In the past four years, the United States has expelled, returned, or removed (deported) an increasing number of non-Mexican nationals from the United States to Mexico. The U.S. and Mexico have carried out these expulsions, returns and removals without transparency – neither country has published any formal agreement or guidance that explains or limits when or how such removals may be carried out.
This factsheet is intended to serve as a resource compiling what we have learned through testimonies, access to information requests, and secondary sources about the current practice of removals or returns of non-Mexican nationals from the United States to Mexico following the end of the Title 42 expulsion authority in May 2023.
On June 4, 2024, the Biden administration issued a Proclamation on Securing the Border and related Interim Final Rule (IFR), which provides for rapid deportations of individuals who enter irregularly, barring these individuals from seeking asylum, and subjecting them to a heightened screening standard for other fear-based protections from removal.2 U.S. immigration officials have acknowledged that to effectuate the rapid physical removal of individuals under this new policy, the U.S. will continue to rely on Mexico to receive removed non-Mexicans into Mexican territory, potentially in higher numbers. Individuals removed to Mexico under this new policy are likely to be subjected to similar experiences to those reported in this factsheet.