State Dept Again Updates and Extends Mexico Travel Warning
On July 16, 2010, the State Department again updated and extended its travel warning for Mexico in order to inform U.S. citizens traveling to and living in Mexico of concerns about the security situation there.
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This travel warning supersedes the travel warning for Mexico dated May 6, 2010 to note the extension of authorized departure and to update guidance on security conditions and crime.
The following are highlights of the updated travel warning:
Continued Concerns Regarding Road Safety along Border
The travel warning has been updated to include the following information:
Continued concerns regarding road safety along the Mexican border have prompted the U.S. Mission in Mexico to impose certain restrictions on U.S. government employees transiting the area. Effective July 15, 2010, Mission employees and their families may not travel by vehicle across the U.S.-Mexico border to or from any post in the interior of Mexico. This policy also applies to employees and their families transiting Mexico to and from Central American posts.
This policy does not apply to employees and their family members assigned to border posts (Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, and Matamoros), although they may not drive to interior posts as outlined above. Travel is permitted between Hermosillo and Nogales, but not permitted from Hermosillo to any other interior posts.
Travelers Should Avoid Mexican Highway 2
The travel warning now states that travelers should defer unnecessary travel on Mexican Highway 2 between Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo due to the ongoing violent competition between drug trafficking organizations in that area.
Delay in Non-Essential Travel to Areas Near Ciudad Juarez, Etc. Recommended
The section on violence along the border has been updated to state that the situation in the state of Chihuahua, specifically Ciudad Juarez, is of special concern. U.S. citizens should defer unnecessary travel to Ciudad Juarez and to the Guadalupe Bravo area southeast of Ciudad Juarez. U.S. citizens should also defer travel to the northwest quarter of the state of Chihuahua, including the city of Nuevas Casas Grandes and surrounding communities.
From the U.S., these areas are often reached through the Columbus, NM and Fabens and Fort Hancock, TX ports-of-entry. In both areas, U.S. citizens have been victims of drug related violence. There have been recent incidents of serious narcotics-related violence in the vicinity of the Copper Canyon in Chihuahua.
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 05/14/10 news, 10051445, for BP summary of the May 6, 2010 Mexico travel warning.)