Mexico deploys military troops to border in 'Operativo Frontera Norte'
Mexico launched a massive, attention-grabbing deployment of 10,000 military troops dubbed "Operativo Frontera Norte" to cities and towns on the border with the United States, including Juárez.
US-Mexico border:US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth makes first visit to border in El Paso, Sunland Park
The deployment includes an unspecified number of Mexican army soldiers and National Guard troops going to Juárez and the Chihuahua-state border towns of Ojinaga, across from Presidio, Texas, and Palomas, across from Columbus, New Mexico, reported La Verdad Juárez news site.
Videos and photos posted on social media by Mexico's Secretariat of National Defense, known as SEDENA, showed military troops lined up boarding military transport planes and rows of army trucks rolling out in the predawn darkness Tuesday from army bases in Mexico City and other cities.
The response — translated as "Operation Northern Border" — is part of an agreement reached Monday, Feb. 3, between U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum postponing trade tariff threats and counterthreats for a month that created uncertainty and economic rattles.
Troops are also being sent to other border cities, including Tijuana, Mexicali, Nogales, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and Matamoros.
Trump asked Mexico to do more to counter the smuggling of fentanyl and other drugs and illegal immigration to the United States. Mexico is calling on the U.S. to do more to stop the trafficking of firearms sold in the U.S. going to Mexico.
"The fentanyl crisis in the United States, they obviously have to do their part in the United States," Sheinbaum said on Tuesday at her regular morning news conference in Mexico City, adding that the U.S., Canada and Mexico are all in the fight against organized crime.
For decades, Mexico has regularly deployed and rotated its military forces on anti-crime and counter-drug missions to various hot spots across the country, including Juárez, with various levels of success.
In 2021, Mexico, in an agreement with the Biden administration, sent 10,000 troops to its borders to reduce migration to the U.S. border, the Associated Press reported.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
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