In recent years, unauthorized US border crossings by non-Mexican Latin American nationals have
increased significantly. This article examines the impact that these new migrants have had on Ciudad
Juárez, Mexico. It focuses especially on the period immediately preceding the COVID-19 pandemic to the
present. Since 2018, Central Americans, Cubans, Haitians and Venezuelans have passed through Juárez
in record numbers, and many have settled at least temporarily there. Through ethnographic
observations and interviews the author analyzes the impact the new migrants have had on border society and how
Juarenses have responded to each of the immigrant groups. Acts of charity and generosity toward the
migrants are common, but so too are xenophobia and hostility, especially from local politicians, tabloid
journalists, local law enforcement, and members of organized crime. As large numbers of migrants,
especially Venezuelans at present, have flooded into downtown Juárez, the impact has been
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