The Department of Homeland Security has warned a migrant caravan of hundreds moving through Mexico that the U.S. border remains sealed and illegal entrants face arrest, prosecution, and removal.
A migrant caravan that left San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on Sept. 20 has crossed into Mexico and is pushing north with hopes of reaching the U.S. southern border. U.S. Border Patrol is tracking the group with international partners as the numbers sit in the hundreds.
Fox News reported the Department of Homeland Security delivered a direct warning: the days of catch-and-release are finished, and anyone who tries to enter illegally will be stopped and sent home.
The caravan is made up mostly of Hondurans, Guatemalans, Salvadorans, Ecuadoreans, and Haitians. A photo from the outskirts of Tapachula, Mexico, dated Oct. 1, 2025, shows migrants of mixed nationalities departing in a group headed toward Mexico City.
USBP said it is closely engaged with its international partners to watch the caravan’s progress and any new developments. The agency’s message leaves little room for doubt about what waits at the line.
DHS stated that under President Trump and Homeland Secretary Mullin, the border has remained closed and secured for the last 16 months. Officials added that Biden’s open-border approach has been sealed shut.
"Anyone attempting to illegally enter the United States will be apprehended, prosecuted, and removed from the country."
That language marks a clear break from the prior surge years, when large groups often reached the border expecting release into the interior. Illegal immigration has sat at historically low levels since Trump took office last year.
Honduran migrant José Zelaya is traveling with seven relatives. He told interviewers he wants to reach the United States and that the caravan has no organized leadership. Hunger and need, he said, are the forces pushing people forward.
"I want to reach the United States."
Zelaya’s account matches the broader pattern: economic pressure and the search for better opportunities pull people into these long walks. Yet the federal response now centers on enforcement rather than release. Trump has ordered sweeping deportations and expanded crackdowns across the country. That record has become a central talking point in the midterm cycle.
DHS and Border Patrol keep repeating the same core facts. The border stayed closed and secured for the last 16 months. Catch-and-release ended. Illegal crossers face arrest, prosecution, and removal. Related reporting has noted long stretches with zero border releases and sharp drops in apprehensions, though those figures sit outside the detailed body of this account.
The caravan still moves. It left Honduras in late September, entered Mexico, and continues north in the hundreds. Agents and partners are watching every step. The warning from Homeland Security is not subtle: the southern border is no longer an open invitation.
Communities that absorbed the earlier Biden-era surge already lived through the strain of sudden arrivals, strained services, and shifting neighborhood realities. The current policy aims to stop that cycle before another wave reaches the line.
Secure borders and clear consequences are not talking points. They are the only way to keep the law real for the people who already live here and play by the rules.
