President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday, November 12, 2026, to immediately double tariffs on imports from Mexico; Mexico must halt a migrant caravan traveling north. In a post on Truth Social, Trump characterized the approaching group as an invasion and stated that U.S. Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Texas state leadership had been alerted. The post did not specify a compliance deadline or clarify which existing tariff schedules would be doubled.
The migrant group departed Tapachula, Chiapas, near Mexico's southern border with Guatemala on Tuesday, November 10. Participants told regional reporters they set out hoping the incoming Democratic congressional majority elected in the November 2026 midterms might alter federal immigration laws. Trump insisted on social media that the migrants will not be accepted into the United States and demanded immediate Mexican intervention.
Hours after Trump's online statement, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pushed back during her morning press conference in Mexico City. Sheinbaum firmly ruled out deploying security forces to violently break up the migrant group. She pointed to Mexico's existing containment record: "Not a single migrant caravan has reached the northern border since January 2025, and Mexico continues to manage regional migration flows humanely without resorting to military force." Mexican immigration authorities have historically relied on transit permits, regional asylum processing, and voluntary busing within southern and central Mexico.
In February 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling curtailing presidential authority to impose sweeping emergency tariffs without explicit congressional authorization. On October 29, 2026, the U.S. Department of State announced targeted visa restrictions and sanctions against illicit organizers accused of financing and coordinating migrant caravans across Central America. In Thursday's announcement, Trump noted that U.S. Customs and Border Protection, ICE, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa had been briefed on the approaching caravan.
