The first 10,000 Mexican officers have been sent to the northern border after tariff threats from President Trump.
Armed and masked National Guard members plowed through the brush along the border barrier on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez. They pulled out ropes and ladders hidden in the trenches and loaded them onto trucks. Other parts of the border, near Tijuana, were also patrolled.
This comes after a week of turmoil along the border after Trump announced that he would delay imposing crippling duties on Mexico for a minimum of a month. In exchange, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum pledged to send her country’s National Guard to strengthen the border and crack down on fentanyl trafficking.
Trump declared an emergency at the border in regards to migration and drug trafficking.
The U.S. has said that it will do more to prevent American guns from being shipped into Mexico and used to fuel the violence of cartels. This violence has spread to other areas of the country, as criminal groups battle to control the lucrative migrant-smuggling business.
The first members of this force arrived in border towns on Tuesday. They climbed out of the government planes. The Wednesday patrol confirmed the presence of new guards.
According to the government, at least 1,650 officers are expected to be dispatched to Ciudad Juarez. This makes it the second largest recipient of border reinforcements, after Tijuana where 1,949 people will be deployed.
According to a Mexican government statement, the top American diplomat expressed his gratitude for the Mexican forces during Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s trip through Latin America where migration was the main agenda item.
Sheinbaum’s negotiation was seen by many observers as a clever political maneuver by the newly elected Mexican leader. Sheinbaum’s ability to manage Trump’s presidency was questioned by many.