Trump’s Border Policies Prompt 14,000 Migrants to Head Back South

The numbers are in and they’re devastating for the Left’s open-borders narrative.

According to a newly released report from officials in Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica, over 14,000 migrants, nearly all of them Venezuelans, are now heading back south after realizing they can no longer enter the United States under President Trump’s strict border policies.

This massive wave of reverse migration is being driven by one thing: Trump’s uncompromising enforcement of U.S. sovereignty.

“Nearly all said they were returning because they could no longer legally reach the U.S.,” the report states.

The Numbers Speak for Themselves:

• 97% of the migrants interviewed in Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia said they were Venezuelan.

• 49% cited being refused entry into the U.S. as their primary reason for turning back.

• 46% pointed to Trump’s policy changes as the direct cause.

• 34% said they ran out of financial resources after realizing the journey was now futile.

• 17% feared detention or deportation under new enforcement protocols.

• Northbound migration dropped by 97% in 2025, according to the report.

This is what deterrence looks like. Not speeches. Not hashtags. Not “root cause” summits in Guatemala. Real policy with real consequences.

President Trump wasted no time after returning to the Oval Office in January. His very first immigration proclamation invoked the Immigration and Nationality Act, making it clear that entry into the U.S. would be suspended for anyone involved in the border invasion. “Aliens engaged in the invasion across the southern border of the United States… are restricted from invoking provisions of the INA that would permit their continued presence,” the proclamation stated.

No more gaming the asylum system. No more catch and release. No more pretending economic migration is political persecution.

Even The Atlantic, hardly a friend of Trump, had to admit the truth in April:

“For the first time in recent history, the people passing through Central America are mostly moving south. The new migration flow seems to have been triggered by the Trump administration’s crackdown…”

That’s not just an immigration win. That’s a national security victory, an economic relief, and a massive step forward in restoring American rule of law.

As Costa Rica’s migration chief revealed earlier this year, their country alone had been overwhelmed by over 200,000 asylum applications an unsustainable load driven by the magnet of Biden-era border lawlessness. But now that magnet is gone.

One migrant summed up the shift bluntly:

“It’s time to go back the American dream wasn’t like this.”

They’re right. The American dream isn’t a border invasion. It’s legal immigration. Law and order. Safety and sovereignty. And after years of chaos, President Trump is restoring that dream for the American people.

Share this article if you support a secure border and real immigration reform and subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on how Trump is delivering results.