Seeing how a batch of executive orders issued by President Donald Trump on the first day of his presidency effectively closed down the Mexican border for migrants headed to the United States, Ronald Alvarez had the sinking feeling that he and his family had just lost the race for salvation.

The Mexican government is rushing to raise tent cities for migrants deported from the U.S. Thousands of non-Mexicans now stranded in the country are overwhelming immigration officials as migrants continue to arrive from Central and South America.

In Mexico City, some migrants have built tent cities and slept on the streets. In a country long sympathetic to migrants, neighbors are protesting.

By Alek Buttermann US President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policies have left thousands of migrants in limbo on Mexico’s southern border. With mass deportations ramping up and the controversial “Remain in Mexico” programme reinstated,