Every year, the Mexican immigration and law enforcement authorities arrest migrants from Central American countries who arrive in the country with the intent of ultimately crossing over into the United States. Many “illegal” immigrants are arrested and detained for indefinite periods of time in conditions of extreme squalor.

If you’re stuck in Mexico on charges of illegal immigration, you can get in touch with Fabian Meneses, a criminal defense lawyer and the founder of Meneses Legal, a law firm that frequently takes cases of defendants stuck in the US or Mexican territory after being convicted of crimes such as cross-border crimes, sex crimes, drug possession, homicide crimes, gun crimes, and contraband and tax crimes. Our cross-border attorney in Tijuana will handle your legal defense and help you avoid being charged with illegal immigration.

While you can always count on our highly qualified criminal defense attorneys in Tijuana to get you out of trouble with the border control authorities, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Here are the most important things you need to know about Mexican border laws and the consequences of violating them.

When is it illegal to cross over into Mexico?

Although many American citizens are also arrested from time to time for illegally crossing over into Mexico, the bulk of the detainees is made up of immigrants from Central American countries, such as Honduras and Guatemala, who are bound for the United States.

Oftentimes, entire families comprising men, women, and children get detained indefinitely in ‘migrant shelters’ without access to proper sanitation, food, and clean water.

Being convicted by the Mexican border control authorities can turn into a harrowing experience for families looking to build a better life in the US. As such, if you are considering leaving your home country for the United States, we cannot overstate the importance of doing it legally.

If you have been convicted by the Mexican immigration authorities on charges of illegal immigration, you can reach out to our cross-border criminal defense attorney in Tijuana, Mexico. Our criminal defense attorneys in Tijuana have been successfully fighting on behalf of asylum seekers for many years.

Crossing into Mexico as a US citizen

If you are crossing into Mexico as a US citizen, you should have your US passport on your person to avoid being detained by the Mexican government. The Mexican authorities may not allow US citizens to enter the country if they cannot provide their US passports.

Although headlines about illegal Mexican immigrants trying to cross the border into the United States dominate the news, Mexico has also faced its fair share of illegal immigrants coming into the country from the US.

By the late 1820s, the Mexican authorities agreed that illegal immigration from the United States into Mexico was becoming something of a crisis. During this time, many Americans would cross over into Mexico in search of arable farmland, which was becoming scarcer and scarcer in their home country of the United States. Before long, hundreds of thousands of Americans were flocking to Mexican Texas. These people settled on the land and faced no repercussions owing to the relatively small number of Mexican government officials present in Texas.

While today Mexicans arrive in the US in search of better economic opportunities in far greater numbers than American citizens migrate to Mexico, illegal immigration to Mexico still remains a problem.

What happens if you are convicted of violating Mexican immigration laws?

Until recently, Mexican immigration agents were allowed to carry out stop and search operations on highways and forms of public transport such as buses. The Supreme Court of Mexico ruled in favor of three young indigenous Mexicans in May 2022 who were detained and subjected to physical abuse by Mexican immigration officials in a case going back to 2015.

Although the young detainees – two sisters and their 18-year-old brother – were indigenous Mexicans, they were detained on suspicion of being illegal immigrants in Mexico due to their inability to speak Spanish. The case serves as a grim reminder of the kind of fate that might befall illegal immigrants in Mexico if they are found and detained by the Mexican immigration authorities.

Mexican border laws for US-bound migrants from Central Asia

The bulk of illegal migrants hoping to enter the United States via Mexico comes from the Central American region known as the ‘Northern Triangle,’ a territory that includes Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Illegal immigrants from these countries have been heading for the United States in record numbers since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which ravaged the economies of many countries around the world and impacted peoples’ livelihoods.

If you require a criminal defense attorney in Tijuana to help you with charges of illegal immigration, you can get a free consultation with our cross-border attorney in Tijuana.

The Mexican government supports current US President Joe Biden’s efforts to curtail the number of immigrants arriving at the US border. As such, there have also been many arrests and detentions of people who tried to enter the United States by first obtaining illegal entry into Mexico.

The Mexican migration authorities routinely arrest immigrants found on Mexican territory who lack the necessary paperwork which is needed to legally enter Mexico. There is close coordination between the US State Department and the Mexican National Guard when it comes to curbing illegal immigration into the US via Mexico.

A large number of immigration checkpoints have been set up around the country since 2014 in order to stop illegal Central American immigrants from reaching the southern US border. These immigration checkpoints have been set up with the knowledge and full support of the American State Department.

What are the consequences for American “illegals” in Mexico?

Although headlines about American “illegals” in Mexico rarely make cable news, it is nevertheless a problem that the Mexican immigration authorities have to deal with.

In 2011, about a thousand US citizens were questioned by the Mexican immigration authorities about discrepancies in their immigration status. Many Americans cross over into Mexico without first obtaining all the proper paperwork, egged on by the false belief that being found out for doing so will earn them nothing more than a mere slap on the wrist. However, you can get into serious trouble with the Mexican law enforcement agencies if you are caught residing or working in the country illegally. American citizens do not receive special treatment in Mexico, and there are no advocacy groups lobbying for the rights of illegal American citizens in Mexico. You may find yourself in a very bad situation if you are discovered by the Mexican authorities and charged for living in Mexico without the required paperwork and permits.

In the event that you are convicted by a Mexican immigration officer, you may have to pay a fine. You may also be asked to leave the country.

While the issue of undocumented Americans residing in Mexico is not treated as seriously as the issue of illegal immigrants from Central America arriving in Mexico, it is nevertheless not advisable to cross over into Mexico illegally. If you get into trouble with the Mexican immigration authorities, you can get a free consultation with Fabian Meneses, our criminal defense attorney in Tijuana.

There are many reasons why Americans choose to stay in Mexico illegally. They may not bother to renew their work permit, come into the country to look for a second job, or decide to make Mexico their home after developing a taste for the Latin American culture and lifestyle. Many Americans choose to retire in Mexico and enjoy a quiet and simple life in their old age.

According to the last census in Mexico, which was conducted in 2010, over 738,000 people born in the United States now reside in Mexico. While not all of them are there illegally, it is safe to assume that not all of these 738,000 immigrants are living in Mexico with proper paperwork.

To their credit, many American ex-pats live in Mexico legally, but not all of them have paperwork to show that they are present legally in the country.

Understanding the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy

In 2018, the US government publicly announced that it was working on a ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy. This policy, issued through the US Department of Homeland Security, lays out the legal procedures by way of which the United States will return asylum seekers to Mexico indefinitely until their cases which are pending in the US immigration court system, are resolved.

Under this policy, asylum seekers coming to the United States are returned to Mexico until the date of their asylum hearing in a United States immigration court.

The ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy is concerning for a number of reasons. First, it forces many asylum seekers to wait for their asylum hearing in unsafe and unsanitary conditions in an immigrant shelter in Mexico. While they are there, they typically do not have access to proper sanitation, food, or clean water and have to sleep in cramped rooms. These conditions are also conducive to the spread of the coronavirus amongst immigrants. Lacking access to healthcare facilities, they may fall sick and have no doctor or medic to turn to.

Secondly, being stuck in an immigrant shelter can be a traumatizing experience not just for children and teenagers but for adult men and women as well. They are there without legal or familial support and very little to no financial resources. They have limited knowledge of Mexican law, let alone US immigration law. From a purely humanitarian perspective, forcing asylum seekers to live in such squalid circumstances is disgraceful.

Given that the Mexican government is making every effort to curb illegal immigration into its borders, it is highly inadvisable to travel to Mexico without documentation. The best-case scenario is that you will be held up by the Mexican immigration authorities for a few days, but you may also find yourself placed under arrest by government officials and locked up in prison. If you require more concrete information about illegal immigration to Mexico, you can reach out to us at Meneses Legal for a free consultation with our cross-border criminal defense attorney in Tijuana, Mexico.

Conversely ,if you are stuck in Mexico as an asylum seeker, you can reach out to our criminal defense attorney in Tijuana, Mexico, for legal services. Our highly qualified criminal defense attorneys in Tijuana, Mexico, have been representing defendants in cases of cross-border crimes for many years now.

Hire a bilingual criminal defense attorney in Tijuana

If you’re convicted of a crime in Mexico, the first thing you should do is hire a criminal defense lawyer. Criminal defense attorney Fabian Meneses is a highly experienced criminal defense lawyer and the founder of Meneses Legal, a law firm that employs some of the most knowledgeable criminal defense attorneys.

If you’re arrested by the Mexican authorities on suspicion of illegally coming into Mexico, don’t try to talk yourself out of facing criminal charges; call our criminal defense attorney in Tijuana right away. We will do everything in our power to help you resolve your case and avoid jail time.

Our attorneys represent defendants convicted of crimes such as cross-border crimes, sex crimes, drug possession, homicide crimes, gun crimes, and contraband and tax crimes. You can opt for a free consultation with our criminal defense attorney in Tijuana, Mexico. Reach out to us on our website to learn more.