Since the surge in immigration at the U.S.-Mexico southern border, increasing numbers of migrants being raped that are waiting to cross the border have been reported. Data from the Mexican government, humanitarian groups, and criminal investigations show that the rape of foreign nationals has increased to record highs in 2023 at the border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros, Mexico, a major transit route for migrants. The Biden administration’s new Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) policy allegedly reduces the need for migrants to pay smugglers and criminal groups to bring them across the border, however, it has produced unintended consequences as migrants attempt to travel on their own. Criminal groups are still demanding pay to cross their territory. Bertha Bermudez Tapia, a sociologist at New Mexico State University researching the impacts of Biden’s policies on migrants in Tamaulipas, said, “Rape is part of the torture process to get the money.”
