Over 10,000 Migrants Deported by ICE Have Arrived at a Tijuana Mega Shelter So Far This Year

Thousands of migrants deported under the Trump administration's hardline policies have ended up in the border city of Tijuana, where a mega-shelter has housed 12,000 people through the end of November.

That's according to María José Juárez Becerra, director of Baja California's Migrant Affairs Office, who said the migrants arriving there either violated the terms of their U.S. visas, were arrested in ICE raids or were detained during the asylum process. She also noted that there have been many cases of people who chose to return on their own.

"And we're seeing cases where people are voluntarily coming back to Mexico the way a tourist would normally return," she said. "We're also seeing men being deported while their families stay in the United States, and we've seen entire families who have decided to come back together," Juárez Becerra said, as reported by El Sol de México.

The shelter, which has served as a temporary home for thousands, opened in early 2025 after President Donald Trump announced his plans for mass deportation.

The multi-story building, previously called Flamingos Eventos and used as an event venue, can house up to 2,600 people per day and includes a dining hall, kitchen, medical offices and even government offices.

At the time of its opening, Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda said the shelter would be used exclusively for deported people repatriated to Mexico due of Trump's promised mass removals.

As for the people being repatriated, Juárez Becerra said they're mostly originally from Guerrero, Michoacán, the State of Mexico, Oaxaca and Chiapas.

Although Mexican authorities expected a larger flow of deportees when the shelter opened, data from the National Migration Institute shows that removals through the Tijuana border in the first 11 months of this year were more than three times lower than in 2024, when 37,509 deportations were recorded.

Juárez Becerra added that across Baja California, shelters are operating at roughly 30% to 35% capacity.

"People keep arriving in the city, and thanks to the work of the Municipal Migrant Assistance Office, they're directed to a shelter," she said. "The fact that shelter occupancy isn't higher doesn't mean migration has stopped," Juárez Becerra added.