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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 despite migration
levels and fentanyl overdoses significantly dipping over the
past year. 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.
“There will be permanent surveillance on the border,” José Luis
Santos Iza, one of the National Guard leaders heading off the
deployment in the city, told media upon the arrival of the first
set of 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
American diplomat thanked the Mexican government for the forces,
according to a statement by the Mexican government.
The negotiation by Sheinbaum was viewed by observers as a bit of
shrewd political maneuvering by the newly elected Mexican
leader. Many had previously cast doubt that she’d be able to
navigate Trump’s presidency as effectively as her predecessor
and ally, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
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