Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is sending 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in exchange for a one-month delay of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on her country.
Human rights groups have said that increasing military presence at the border can put migrants at risk.
There are already thousands of Mexican troops along the border with the United States as well as along Mexico’s southern border. That includes troops from the Mexican National Guard, the unit from which Sheinbaum plans to send the upcoming 10,000.
Stephanie Brewer, with the human rights advocacy group Washington Office on Latin America, said increasing ranks at the border doesn’t amount to a significant shift in policy. But further militarizing the border can put migrants in danger.
“Both the [Mexican] National Guard and Army troops have been involved in several cases over the past years of excessive use of force,” Brewer said.
In a high-profile incident last fall, Mexican soldiers killed six migrants in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, including children. In another incident last fall, Mexico’s National Guard fatally shot two Colombian migrants near the U.S.-Mexico border.
Attempts to reach Mexico’s National Guard for comment were unsuccessful.
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Fausto Isidro Meza Flores is charged in the United States with drug trafficking violations and allegedly leads a violent criminal group in Mexico.
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Of those people, around 2,500 have been from countries other than Mexico, and Mexico has aided in repatriating some back to their country of origin.
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Mexico’s president made a deal with President Donald Trump on Monday to delay tariffs for at least a month.
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The first migrant detainees have been sent to the notorious U.S. military base, which President Trump plans to use as a holding facility for migrants deported from the United States.
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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the flight was in international airspace and not unusual.