U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to double tariffs on Mexican goods if Mexico doesn’t stop migrants traveling through the country en route to the United States.
His threat in an early morning post to Truth Social came two days after a caravan of more than 1,000 migrants began walking north from Tapachula, a city in the southern state of Chiapas near the border with Guatemala.
https://t.co/D8zHTd06Tk
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 12, 2026
“Here we go again!” Trump wrote at the start of his post.
“With the perceived loss by the Republicans in the Midterms – I WAS NOT ON THE BALLOT – the INVASION of our Country is taking place again. Huge CARAVANS are forming and beginning their illegal march through Mexico. Many of the people in these Caravans are those that various countries don’t want – ‘Send them to America,’ they say – But they will not be accepted!,” he wrote before making his threat.
“MEXICO MUST STOP THEM, NOW, and if they do not do so, the Tariffs on Mexico will be IMMEDIATELY DOUBLED,” Trump wrote.
“MEXICO, THE GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, THE VERY LIBERAL NEW GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, OUR GREAT BORDER PATROL, & ICE, HAVE BEEN SO INFORMED. There will be no leniency!”
Among the U.S. tariffs Trump could conceivably double are those that currently apply to Mexican steel, aluminum and vehicles. In ongoing trade talks with the U.S., Mexico is attempting to negotiate a reduction of the Section 232 duties, which were imposed last year.
Trump’s latest tariff threat — one of various he has directed at Mexico over the years — came after his administration’s border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News that Mexico “needs to put troops on their southern border and northern border” to stop migrant caravans.
“It’s against the law in Mexico to transit that country if you’re from another country without a transit visa. So they’re breaking Mexico’s law … [and Mexico] needs to step up,” he said in an interview on Wednesday.
Referring to last week’s U.S. midterm results, Homan also said:
“Congress may be more blue, Texas may be more blue, but the White House is red, bright red. And again President Trump created the most secure border in history. These caravans can come to the border all they want. They’re not going to be released into the United States. They’re going to be turned around or prosecuted and turned around because we will charge them with a crime so they can sit in jail, serve their sentence before they’re deported. But we’re not giving one inch on this border.”
For his part, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin shared Trump’s Truth Social post to his X account.
“This illegal migrant caravan will NOT be allowed to enter our country. Full stop,” he wrote above it.
Sheinbaum: No migrant caravan has reached the northern border in Trump’s second term
Asked about Trump’s tariff threat at her Thursday morning press conference, Sheinbaum said that “no migrant caravan has reached the northern border” since Trump began his second term in January 2025.
U.S. authorities’ encounters with migrants have significantly declined during Trump’s second term, indicating that unauthorized border-crossing attempts have fallen. The White House said late last month that “illegal crossings” were at an “all-time low” thanks to Trump’s border policies.
On Thursday morning, Sheinbaum said there are currently two migrant caravans traveling through Mexico.
“One caravan is in Arriaga, Chiapas. It formed with around 500 or … 600 people and fewer than 100 remain,” she said.
Mexico is committed to orderly migration, with dignity for migrants. As President Sheinbaum said today, no migrant caravan has reached Mexico’s northern border. Mexico makes clear to migrants that there is no path into the United States and offers them a safe return home. The great majority choose to return.
The results are visible at the border: a historic 97% reduction in encounters, reaching their lowest level since 1959.
That reflects Mexico’s work every day alongside our U.S. counterparts, and that cooperation will continue.
— Roberto Lazzeri (@robertolazzeri) November 12, 2026
“How do we… [reduce the size of the caravan]? We tell the people in the caravan that it’s very difficult to get to the United States, that if their goal is to get to the United States, they won’t be able to achieve it,” Sheinbaum said.
“We seek a way for them to safely return to their countries. If someone wants to stay in Mexico under certain conditions in a certain place they can. But the vast majority return to their countries of origin once they find out they won’t be able to cross Mexico’s border with the United States,” she said.
Sheinbaum said that the government wouldn’t use force against migrants traveling through the country, as has occurred in the past.
W Radio reported on Thursday that a caravan of around 1,500 migrants was in Huixtla, a town around 40 kilometers north of Tapachula. It reported that 80% of the caravan’s members are from Honduras, while the remainder are from Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador. W Radio reported that the migrants in Arriaga, located in northern Chiapas near the state’s border with Oaxaca, are waiting for the larger caravan to arrive in order to join it and continue traveling toward the Mexico-U.S. border.
The caravan of 1,500 migrants left Tapachula on Tuesday and includes many families, according to Reuters. The news agency reported that many migrants in the caravan “saw new reason for optimism” about their chances of entering the United States “after last week’s US elections.”
“… The migrants, mostly from Central America, hope the political shift could open pathways for them to live and work in the United States,” Reuters reported.
“There might be a light at the end of the tunnel, a way for us to get in,” said César Sandoval, a 47-year-old Nicaraguan man who was deported from the United States earlier this year.
“We believe the Democrats will help us… with God’s help,” he told Reuters in Tapachula.
Reuters reported that the caravan is first aiming to get to Mexico City “to seek assistance from the Mexican federal government and protection from being detained while traveling toward the U.S. border.”
The news agency noted that the journey to the capital is likely to take at least several weeks, reporting also that the migrants were carrying water “in the hot temperatures typical of southern Mexico.”
