DHS Secretary Says ‘Zero Chance’ Migrant Caravan Will Be Let Into US

A caravan of migrants marches toward the U.S. border, in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, in this file photo. Isaac Guzman/AFP via Getty Images

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin said a migrant caravan heading toward the U.S. southern border from Mexico would be rebuffed if it reaches the border area.

There is “zero chance we allow them to enter the United States,” he told Fox News in a recent interview, adding that “we’re not allowing them to enter.”

“We believe that this caravan will probably break up” before it reaches the border, Mullin said.

He said that he believes its members are trying to pressure Mexico’s government into granting them asylum.

Meanwhile, those migrants who have claimed asylum in Mexico are now precluded from trying to do the same in the United States, Mullin said.

He said he had been very clear with his counterpart in Mexico that if the migrant caravan were allowed to continue north, it would not be allowed inside the United States.

The caravan set out from southern Mexico in late August, with some of the migrants telling The Associated Press that they were recently deported from the United States.

At least one person in the caravan expressed a desire to enter America illegally.

“I want to reach the United States,” Honduran national José Zelaya was quoted as saying by the Houston Chronicle.

Zelaya, who is traveling with seven relatives, said the caravan has no organized leadership, and he is trying to head to the United States because of “hunger and need,” according to the newspaper.

U.S. authorities have advised against people trying to enter the country illegally.

On Sept. 21, the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, warned that the border is closed.

The embassy said in a post on X, according to a translation, “Do not risk your life or that of your family by undertaking the dangerous journey to the north. Do not believe the lies of human traffickers. If you attempt to enter the United States illegally, you will be deported.”

Since taking office, President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to carry out mass deportations of illegal immigrants.

At the same time, DHS has touted what it has described as a record low level of releases at the U.S.-Mexico border.

In an update last month, the department said it has released zero illegal immigrants at the border for 16 consecutive months.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency overseen by DHS, apprehended 5 percent fewer people, or 8,870, along the southwest border in August than in July.

The Border Patrol recorded 10,939 apprehensions nationwide in August, or a 3 percent lower figure than July’s total, DHS said.

Trump in 2025 issued a number of border-related orders, including the declaration of a national emergency along the southern border.

He also ordered the renewal of the Migrant Protection Protocols, commonly known as the “remain in Mexico” policy, as well as ending catch-and-release.

DHS did not immediately respond to an Epoch Times request for comment on Friday.