Mexican border town declares state of emergency as Trump pledges mass deportations

Maria Mercado, who is from Colombia but arrived from Ecuador, gets emotional as she sees that her 1pm appointment was canceled on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) One app, as she and her family wait at the border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico on Monday, Jan. 20. 2025. (Gregory Bull/AP)

Migrant shelters in Tijuana - located across the border from San Diego, California - are bracing for a possible surge in the influx of migrants should U.S. President Donald Trump carry out his mass deportation plan.

More than 30 shelters operate in the Mexican border city located in the northwestern state of Baja California, according to local authorities. Humanitarian workers CNN spoke to said a lack of space, resources, and overall uncertainty are among the issues facing the shelters.

The director of Jardin de las Mariposas shelter, C Jamie Marín, told CNN there is concern that Trump’s potential mass deportations could trigger a humanitarian crisis related to services for both migrants going to the United States and those who have been deported. “There is collective nervousness… about the decisions made by President Trump’s administration,” Marín said.

“The biggest challenge (for shelters) is not knowing what is going to happen, I am mentally preparing myself,” Pat Murphy, who runs the Casa del Migrante shelter, told CNN last week, prior to Trump’s inauguration.

Their worries stem from Trump’s promise to carry out mass deportations once in office.

During his inaugural speech on Monday, Trump reiterated his pledge. “We will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,” he said from the US Capitol.

Bracing for the potential surge of migrants entering the city, authorities in Tijuana declared a state of emergency last week.

The state of emergency is an administrative move that allows the city to access funds to rent spaces, and pay for legal services, personnel, equipment, and supplies, according to a statement from the city shared with CNN.

However, the city’s Mayor Ismael Burgueño Ruiz said last week that Tijuana “isn’t alarmed” and calls the measure “preventive” in case Trump “really does what he says he’s going to do.” Burgueño says the city has prepared spaces should there be a surge of deportees.

‘It’s not just about providing a bed’

Yet Murphy, who has been the director of Casa del Migrante since 2013, says space is not the only issue. “You have to care for them, who is going to organize programs and training for migrants,” Murphy said, adding that he believes local authorities should work closer with the shelters to mitigate any potential crisis.

Other humanitarian workers agree. “It’s not just about providing a bed and some food, we have to create a space to help people psychologically and spiritually,” Albertina Pauletti from the Madre Assunta shelter told CNN.

Marín said shelters need “more economic resources for food, comprehensive medical services” to help with “voluntary return programs to places of origin, more programs where integration and dignity are promoted through employment, more specific attention for people of sexual diversity, [and] more mental health services.”

It is unclear how many migrants are currently in Tijuana. Government data shows that from January to August 2024 more than 30,000 migrants were in the city at some point. CNN has reached out to Mexican authorities for comment.

The Mexican federal government is also preparing for the potential influx of migrants by announcing the creation of new shelters in border towns and “attending caravans.”

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said on January 3 that many migrants decided to return to their country of origin “as they are walking,” CNN previously reported.

In the face of mounting uncertainty, shelters remain committed to their mission.

“With the possible mass deportations, we are working on projects to help these people psychologically and spiritually and for those who want to be a part of the Tijuana community, those who don’t want to return to their place of origin,” said Pauletti.