Mexican Migrants Face ICE Alerts Amid Decline in Undocumented Share

Community groups across U.S. cities are using WhatsApp and other messaging apps to warn Mexican migrants of imminent ICE operations. Alerts originating from organizations such as Unión del Barrio in La Puente, California, quickly spread to neighborhoods in North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, prompting residents to check their phones before daily activities. The alerts aim to help migrants avoid detention and share information on ICE vehicle sightings, legal contacts and shelter locations.

At the same time, new data from the Instituto de Política Migratoria (MPI) show that while the total undocumented population in the United States reached 15.7 million in 2024, the share of Mexicans fell sharply to 35 percent, down from 62 percent in 2010. Mexican nationals now number about 5.5 million, only slightly higher than five years earlier. Growth in undocumented migration is now driven mainly by Central and South American countries. Analysts attribute the slowdown to tighter Mexican border surveillance, Biden‑era asylum restrictions and former‑Trump administration policies that increased deportations and ended large‑scale humanitarian parole programs.