Ciudad Juarez was to receive at least 1,650 troops, making it the nation’s second-largest recipient of border reinforcements.
Following President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, Mexico has sent 10,000 troops to its northern boundary, with a line of Mexican National Guard and Army trucks thundering along the border between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas.
On the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, National Guard men wearing masks and carrying weapons combed through bush near the border barrier on Wednesday, extracting ropes and homemade ladders hidden in the trenches and dragging them aboard vehicles.
On other sections of the border close to Tijuana, patrols were also observed.
It follows a tumultuous week near the border following Trump’s declaration that he would postpone enforcing crushing tariffs on Mexico for a minimum of one month.
In return, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged to deploy the National Guard to fortify the border and combat the smuggling of fentanyl.
Despite a sharp decline in fentanyl overdoses and migration over the past year, Trump has declared a border emergency.
In response, the US promised to take further action to prevent the trafficking of American firearms into Mexico to support cartel violence, which has spread throughout the nation as criminal organizations vie for control of the lucrative migrant smuggling sector.
1,650 troops are anticipated.
The first of the forces climbed out of government planes and entered border communities on Tuesday. The Wednesday patrol’s guards attested to their membership in the new force.
According to government data, Ciudad Juarez was to get at least 1,650 troops, making it one of the largest recipients of border reinforcements in the nation, second only to Tijuana, which is scheduled to receive 1,949 troops.
According to a statement from the Mexican government, the top American diplomat commended the Mexican government for the efforts during Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s travel around Latin America, where migration was at the top of the agenda.
Observers saw Sheinbaum’s bargain as a bit of cunning political maneuvering on the part of the just elected Mexican leader. Before, many had questioned if she would be able to handle Trump’s administration as well as her ally and predecessor, former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
