NEWSMAX | Published February 6, 2025
A line of Mexican National Guard and Army trucks rumbled along the border separating Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, among the first of 10,000 officers Mexico has sent to its northern frontier following tariff threats by President Donald Trump.
Masked and armed National Guard members picked through brush running along the border barrier on the outskirts of Ciudad Juárez, pulling out makeshift ladders and ropes tucked away in the trenches, and pulling them onto trucks. Patrols were also seen on other parts of the border near Tijuana.
It comes after a turbulent week along the border after Trump announced he would delay imposing crippling tariffs on Mexico for at least a month. In exchange, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised she would send the country’s National Guard to reinforce the border and crack down on fentanyl smuggling.
Trump has declared an emergency on the border, in terms of migration and drug trafficking..
The U.S. said it would, in turn, do more to stop American guns from being trafficked into Mexico to fuel cartel violence, which has rippled to other parts of the country as criminal groups fight to control the lucrative migrant smuggling industry.
On Tuesday, the first of those forces arrived in border cities, climbing out of government planes. Guard members in the Wednesday patrol confirmed that they were part of the new force.
At least 1,650 officers were expected to be sent to Ciudad Juárez, according to government figures, making it one of the biggest receivers of border reinforcements in the country, second only to Tijuana, where 1,949 personnel are slated to be sent.
During Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s trip through Latin America – where migration was at the top of the agenda – the top American diplomat thanked the Mexican government for the forces, according to a statement by the Mexican government.
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SOURCE: www.newsmax.com
RELATED: Mexico deploys first of 10,000 National Guard officers to US border following Trump’s tariff threats
Mexico’s National Guard officers arrive at Military Air Base No. 12 in Tijuana International Airport in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on February 4, 2025. GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images
NEWSWEEK | Published February 6, 2025
Sheinbaum has pledged to improve Mexico’s domestic security since her inauguration in October 2024, after the 170,000 murders her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, oversaw during his six years in power. Her election win was underpinned by her time as former mayor of Mexico City during which homicide rates halved.
Mexico’s skyrocketing murder rate and the control its criminal cartels retain is a central focus of Sheinbaum’s presidency. She has pledged to increase the number of National Guard personnel by 300,000 and to reduce the murder rate from 23.3 homicides per 100,000 residents to 19.4 per 100,000, in line with Brazil.
With the forces heading to the U.S.-Mexico border as of Tuesday, the move supports both presidents’ politicking, although the question remains what, if anything, the deal will do to help meet their goals.
What Will 10,000 More Troops Look Like?
There is limited information on the number of National Guard troops who were at the southwest border preceding tariff talks. Data from the Mexican government showed that between December 2021 and January 2022, nearly 15,000 personnel were deployed.
At a press conference on Tuesday, a reporter asked Sheinbaum if the new deployment would bring the country’s border security contingent to 46,000, based on claims that former president Obrador ended his administration with a combined northern and southern border force of 36,000.
Sheinbaum did not confirm the total figure, but denied that 36,000 personnel were stationed at the crossings. Newsweek has contacted a media representative for Sheinbaum’s office via email for comment.
That number is not far from what the Mexican government has previously reported. A national security update published by the Mexican government in April 2024 said 32,690 security personnel were on the borders. The update did not include weighting for each border. Another update published in April 2022, reported an equal distribution.
There are also few details about the strategy, placement, or duties of the 10,000 National Guard personnel. Assuming a scenario where Mexican National Guards were equally deployed across each mile of the U.S.-Mexico border, increasing the deployment force by 10,000 provides about five more guards per mile, compared to those deployed in April 2022. Although an even distribution of forces across every mile of the border is unlikely, it offers a sense of how the increase could translate into feet on the ground.
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SOURCE: www.newsweek.com
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