Through mobile clinics, we delivered medical and mental health services in Tenosique (Tabasco), Coatzacoalcos (Veracruz), Tapachula and Palenque (Chiapas), Piedras Negras (Coahuila), Reynosa, Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo (Tamaulipas), as well as in the capital, Mexico City, prioritising assistance to unaccompanied minors, women travelling alone, and victims of direct violence.

In August, in response to an influx of thousands of migrants at Mexico’s southern border, the immigration authorities started to issue transit permits in the small town of San Pedro Tapanatepec, Oaxaca. In October, Mexico and the US agreed that Venezuelans entering the US irregularly would be deported to Mexico under Title 42.  This decision prompted immediate expulsions at the northern border.

Following this announcement, the authorities in San Pedro Tapanatepec halted the issuance of permits, even though thousands of people of different nationalities, including children, continued to arrive at the border, where they remained stranded without access to shelter, medical services, or adequate water and sanitation facilities. Within a few days, we mobilised an emergency team to provide assistance to over 20,000 people.

In Reynosa and Matamoros, more than 5,000 people were stranded in informal camps, with limited access to drinking water, health services and protection. Our teams adapted activities according to their changing needs, distributing items such as blankets, warm clothing and thermal sleeping mats when the weather turned cold, as well as food.

In our comprehensive care centre in Mexico City, we provided a complete package of care for survivors of extreme violence and torture, including medical treatment, mental health, and social support.  

MSF teams composed of doctors, psychologists, community educators and social workers also offered support in the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance building, as well as in the northern bus terminal and six shelters in the city.

* A US public health order that has been misused during the COVID-19 pandemic to effectively close the US southern border to asylum seekers. Title 42 has resulted in more than two million expulsions in under three years.