Introduction and Background
In observance of the International Migrants Day, a journalistic monitoring of information has revealed that violence against migrants in transit through Mexico persisted as a constant throughout 2025, with at least 1,171 individuals becoming victims of various crimes. This information is presented in the report titled “Between Borders and Violence: The Reality of Migrant Transit in Mexico,” released on December 18.
Victim Identification and Demographics
Out of the total 1,171 victims recorded, only 342 could be fully identified. Among them, 139 were women (40.6%), 157 men (45.9%), and 46 children, boys, and adolescents (13.4%). In the remaining cases, insufficient information on sex or age was available due to omissions in journalistic reports.
Monthly Distribution of Victims
September had the highest number of victims, with 379 people affected. This was primarily due to three incidents where over 100 migrants were found in crowded and abandoned trucks, one of the deadliest patterns of risk on migrant routes.
Types of Violence Against Migrants
The NGO’s analysis also uncovered that kidnapping was the most frequent form of violence, present in 41.8% of cases. Following this, the disappearance of migrants accounted for 14.3%, accidents for 13.3%, human trafficking for 12.2%, and homicides for 8.2%.
Other minor crimes experienced by foreigners included extortion, human trafficking, robberies or assaults, overcrowding, torture, and injuries.
Geographical Distribution of Violent Incidents
The violent incidents were predominantly concentrated in states that form part of the main migratory routes to the United States. Chihuahua led with 41 incidents, followed by Chiapas (20), Baja California, the State of Mexico, and Veracruz, each with five cases.
Victim Nationalities
Of the 689 cases where the victim’s nationality could be identified, 30.8% were Guatemalans, 28.3% Mexicans, 14.4% Cubans, 5.4% Ecuadorians, and 4.6% Indians. Additionally, there were victims from Venezuela, Colombia, and Haiti in smaller proportions.
Presumed Perpetrators
In 58 of the 98 documented cases, the presumed perpetrators were identified. Kidnappers were implicated in 30 cases, followed by human traffickers with 14 suspects and five individuals identified as traffickers.
Other documented incidents involved extortionists, robbers, criminal groups, and even officials from the National Immigration Institute, state and municipal police, and Guardia Nacional.
The organization conducted this review by monitoring digital media reports using Google searches with keywords related to violence against migrants, from January 1 to December 15, 2025. During this period, 98 journalistic reports documented violent incidents against migrants in motion.
Government Response
In November, the Secretariat of Government reported that between January and October 2025, 29 irregular migrants declared being victims of crimes while entering Mexican migration stations. This represents a significant drop from the 103 cases reported in the same period of 2024, a reduction close to 72%.
Of these, 18 were men and 11 women detected during their entry into the Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) migration stations.
Key Questions and Answers
- Q: How many migrants were victims of crimes in Mexico in 2025? A: At least 1,171 migrants were victims of various crimes.
- Q: What types of violence were most common against migrants? A: Kidnapping was the most frequent form of violence, followed by disappearance, accidents, human trafficking, and homicides.
- Q: Where did most of these violent incidents occur? A: The majority of incidents took place in states that are part of the main migratory routes to the United States, with Chihuahua having the highest number of cases.
- Q: What was the nationality distribution of the victims? A: The majority were Guatemalans (30.8%), followed by Mexicans (28.3%), Cubans (14.4%), Ecuadorians (5.4%), and Indians (4.6%).
- Q: Who were the presumed perpetrators of these crimes? A: Kidnappers were the most frequently identified perpetrators, followed by human traffickers.
- Q: How has the Mexican government responded to these incidents? A: The Secretariat of Government reported a significant drop in reported cases of violence against migrants, from 103 in the same period of 2024 to 29 in 2025.
