Mexican National Guard members patrol along the Mexico-U.S. border in Ciudad Juarez on February 5, 2025. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A line of Mexican National Guard and Army trucks rumbled along the border separating Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas, on February 5, 2025, among the first of 10,000 troops Mexico has sent to its northern frontier after tariff threats by U.S. 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.
Trump has declared an emergency on the border. The U.S. said it would, in turn, do more to stop guns 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 February 4, the first of those forces arrived in border cities, climbing out of government planes. Guard members in the February 5 patrol confirmed that they were part of the new force.
“There will be permanent surveillance on the border,” José Luis Santos Iza, one of the National Guard leaders leading the deployment in the city, told media upon the arrival of the first Soldiers. “This operation is primarily to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, mainly fentanyl.”
At least 1,650 troops 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 are slated to be sent.
During U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s trip through Latin America — where migration was at the top of the agenda — the top U.S. diplomat thanked the Mexican government for the forces, according to a statement by the Mexican government.