A sprawling state-run "mega shelter" in Tijuana has processed roughly 12,000 Mexican nationals deported from the United States so far this year, according to Baja California officials. The complex was built to handle large waves of returnees, yet it is still operating under capacity, even as a steady flow of people continues to arrive.
According to FOX5 San Diego, María José Juárez Becerra, director of Baja California’s migrant affairs office, stated that as of Sunday, the Tijuana shelter had received approximately 12,000 people and has the capacity to process around 2,600 individuals per day. Citing figures from Mexico’s Institute of Migration, she noted there were 37,509 deportations through Tijuana in 2024. She said many returnees were sent back over visa violations, arrests during ICE raids, or detentions while they were in the asylum process.
Government tent cities see patchy demand
To prepare for a surge in returns, Mexico’s federal government established large temporary reception centers along the northern border. On paper, they were designed to absorb a surge of deportations. In practice, humanitarian workers say that some of these sites have never come close to being filled up. WUSF reported earlier this year that several mega shelters remained well under their expected occupancy, even as smaller community shelters and local NGOs struggled to cover daily needs.
Who is arriving, and what pushed them north
Officials say most people moving through the Tijuana facility are Mexican nationals from Guerrero, Michoacán, Estado de México, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. Their reasons for heading to the United States cut across a familiar spectrum, from cartel threats and forced recruitment to domestic violence and efforts to reunite with relatives already living north of the border. That mix of motives has repeatedly surfaced in coverage of the Tijuana corridor and other crossing points, and El País has documented many of these personal stories from the border.
Tijuana officials reshuffle space as advocates flag gaps
Municipal and state authorities have converted warehouses and sports facilities to handle deportations, saying they have contingency plans ready if the pace of returns picks up. Uniradio Baja California reported that one industrial nave is being prepared as overflow space and listed other municipal properties that could be turned into shelters if needed.
Juárez Becerra has stressed that half-empty dormitories do not mean the migration cycle is over, warning that “even though shelter numbers may not be high, immigration has not stopped and people continue to venture into the U.S.” Local nonprofits and cross-border service groups echo that concern, as officials on both sides of the border try to line up limited resources with constantly shifting patterns of deportation and transit.
