Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday that the flow of migrants arriving at the border with the United States had halved in recent months, from its peak in December.

“We had a crisis on the northern border in December of 12,000 migrants a day and we made a joint effort and (numbers) reduced on average to 6,000, a
reduction of 50 percent in four months,” the president told journalists.

Many thousands of migrants fleeing violence and poverty cross Mexico every year heading for the US border.

On December 18 last year, 12,498 encounters between migrants and US border agents were reported at the border, “the highest number recorded in 2023,” according to a presentation by the Mexican government based on figures from US Customs and Border Protection.

The rising numbers overwhelmed Mexican immigration facilities and shelters in border cities, and put the government under increased pressure from the United States to tackle the issue in an election year.

Since the end of December, the numbers have dropped back to around 6,000 migrants a day, and have remained steady ever since.