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Sending Mexican troops to the border could put migrants at risk, expert says

The commander of the local Mexican military garrison stands on the southern side of the Rio Grande looking back at the U.S. side in Boquillas, Mexico.
Lorne Matalon
The commander of the local Mexican military garrison stands on the southern side of the Rio Grande looking back at the U.S. side in Boquillas, Mexico.

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.

More news from KJZZ's Hermosillo Bureau

Nina Kravinsky is a senior field correspondent covering stories about Sonora and the border from the Hermosillo, Mexico, bureau of KJZZ’s Fronteras Desk.