A lawyer specializing in Mexican immigration law alerted this Saturday to a growing phenomenon in Mexico's airports: migrants who obtained residency fraudulently are being detected by authorities when attempting to re-enter the country, who cancel their cards on the spot and deport them to their country of origin.
Doctor Irene Pascual explained on TikTok that the issue escalated after the arrival of the new administration of Donald Trump, which canceled the programs CBP One and humanitarian parole, leaving thousands of migrants stranded in Mexican territory without options to the United States.
In this situation, the specialist warned that many people, desperate to quickly regularize their immigration status, turned to agents or intermediaries who offered "easy and cheap" services, resulting in the issuance of false documents or the fraudulent acquisition of seemingly legitimate residences.
"Many of them were looking for a residence quickly, easily, and cheaply, and this led to many people taking advantage of the situation," Pascual explained in his video, where he details that these cases have been on the rise in recent months.
According to the lawyer, the problem is primarily detected when migrants leave Mexico and then try to return, at which point immigration authorities review the authenticity of the documentation.
"People who left with that residence permit outside of Mexico and, upon trying to enter, face immigration not allowing them to enter the country, canceling their card and returning them to their country of origin," she noted.
Pascual emphasized that such practices not only lead to the loss of immigration status but may also constitute a crime. Therefore, he stressed the importance of following legal procedures, even if they are slower.
"For this reason, and because it is indeed considered a crime, we insist that they follow the legal processes, even if they take longer," he concluded.
The humanitarian parole program was officially canceled in 2025, impacting tens of thousands of beneficiaries who had relied on this legal mechanism to regularize their situation.
According to data prior to the cancellation, more than 530,000 people had entered the United States under the humanitarian parole program, a figure that illustrates the magnitude of the impact of its elimination on migrant communities.
Among the most affected are the Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who had entered Mexico as a preliminary step towards the United States and, with that route now blocked, sought alternatives to regularize their stay in Mexican territory, in some cases resorting to fraudulent methods.
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