Migrants In Southern Mexico Cheer On Their Home Teams During The World Cup

TAPACHULA, Chiapas — Friday night’s strong rainfall and thunder did not deter hundreds of Haitians from watching their country’s soccer team face off against Brazil in a public watch party hosted at Miguel Hidalgo Park.

The previous night at the same public watch party, Haitians and other migrants were with Mexicans cheering on Mexico’s national team when they won their match against South Korea.

Tapachula is on Mexico’s border with Guatemala and has historically been the main city for migrants to pass through on their way to the United States. As I reported back in 2024, the Biden-Harris border crisis resulted in the town being overwhelmed by the number of migrants trying to take advantage of the Democrats’ open border policies. With President Donald Trump securing the U.S.-Mexico border on his first day back in office, tens of thousands of migrants across Mexico were now stuck.

Some decided to go back to their home countries or try to make Mexico their new home. Others decided to wait another four years in the hope a different U.S. president reverses Trump’s policies. This includes Tapachula and it’s why so many Haitians, for example, were watching their home team playing at the World Cup in Mexico.

So what am I doing at Mexico’s southern border again? Truth be told, I never expected to be back in Tapachula. That changed after I saw the news when two migrant caravans left the city earlier this year, mainly citing lack of job opportunities and no immigration visas being issued by Mexican officials. Another caravan is slated to leave early Saturday morning.

What made the caravans’ mission interesting is they publicly declared they were not trying to reach the U.S., only other cities in northern Mexico. A lot has changed since my previous trip. I figured this would be a good opportunity to see what has changed with Trump’s policies and talk with migrants who want to continue their journey, even with the odds stacked against them.

We will see what happens once the caravan steps off. So stay tuned!