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By KELIN DILLON

Refugee requests have surged in Mexico following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to end asylum applications at the U.S.-Mexico border, prompting many to seek refuge in Mexico instead, said the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comar).

According to Comar, hundreds of foreigners – mainly from Peru, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador – flooded the asylum offices in Tapachula, Chiapas, and Naucalpan searching for refugee status.

However, the heightened demand and low available staff due to a lack of financial resources, not to mention the commission’s four-month absence of a director, have reportedly hampered the offices’ ability to process applications on time.

As a result, a black market selling application slots at prices up to $600 purportedly emerged outside of the asylum offices. 

Comar received 47.8 million pesos in funding for 2025, down 10 percent from 2024 – all while asylum applications in Mexico head toward unprecedented levels.

“Comar had a budget that was already insufficient before Trump and now, of course, it is totally even more insufficient to provide all the care that people who are arriving,” University Program of Development Studies Professor Cristina Hernández Engrandes told daily Mexican newspaper El Universal.

“Ultimately, people will continue to move and returning to their countries is not an option for most. Therefore, the lack of budget and personnel will impact the delegations of the Mexican Commission, which will not be able to cope in the coming weeks,” continued Hernández Engrandes.

During her daily morning press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 28, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (CSP) said the Comar is operating “normally” but said the Mexican government could open a special program for asylum applications if necessary.