Washington: US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to double tariffs on Mexico unless it can keep migrant caravans from reaching the common border, something the Mexican government has been regularly doing.

The Mexican government has intervened to block several groups of migrants traveling up from Central America since September, but at least two more groups have attempted the journey in recent days.

“Here we go again! With the perceived loss by the Republicans in the Midterms... the INVASION of our Country is taking place again,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“They will not be accepted! MEXICO MUST STOP THEM, NOW, and if they do not do so, the Tariffs on Mexico will be IMMEDIATELY DOUBLED.”

Members of the caravans, one with about 1,000 people and another numbering around 100, have told AFP they hoped that the midterm election defeat of Trump’s Republicans would result in less stringent US border restrictions.

Democrats swept both chambers of Congress and won the governorship of Texas for the first time in more than three decades.

Mexican security personnel intervened against the group of 100 people on Tuesday after they crossed a river separating Mexico from Guatemala, reportedly detaining dozens of people.

Two days earlier, however, the group of 1,000 people crossed into Mexico without encountering resistance. On Thursday, they were making their way across Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala.

Another caravan is expected to leave Honduras on Sunday.

Mexico is Washington’s top trading partner, and the neighbors are currently renegotiating the terms of their free trade deal.

A large portion of the goods the United States imports from Mexico are not subject to tariffs, but steel and aluminum are subject to duties ranging from 25 percent to 50 percent.

‘No leniency!’

Such caravans were a frequent occurrence during Trump’s first term and during the administration of Joe Biden.

Since Trump’s return to office on a hard-line anti-immigration agenda, illegal border crossings have plummeted.

He has also heaped pressure on Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to increase her country’s own efforts at impeding migrants from reaching the border.

“There will be no leniency!” Trump warned.

Sheinbaum said Thursday that since Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025, no migrant caravan had reached the US border.

“There are people who mislead migrants by saying, for instance, that the US election result has changed immigration policy, which is simply not true,” Sheinbaum said.

“We’re telling the people in the caravan that entering the United States is extremely difficult, and that if their goal is to reach the United States, they will not be able to do so,” she added.

“We are looking for ways to ensure they return to their home countries safely or, if someone wishes to remain in Mexico under specific conditions and in a designated location, that is also an option.”

The US State Department has revoked visas, or revoked the right to even apply for visas, from more than 15 people believed to be organizing migrant caravans.