1,500 Mexican National Guard arrive in Sonora to reinforce border with Arizona
1,500 Mexican National Guard arrive in Sonora to reinforce border with Arizona
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'American Border': Life at the US-Mexico border
Reporter Raphael Romero Ruiz previews a newsletter covering life at the U.S.-Mexico border called "American Border" just before the new Trump admin.
About 1,500 members of Mexico's National Guard have been deployed to Sonora's border with Arizona as part of Operativo Frontera Norte, which Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced would send 10,000 troops to the country's northern border.
Inspector General Ricardo Rodríguez Alexander, commander of the fourth battalion of the Mexican National Guard and coordinator of operations in Sonora, spoke with reporters on the tarmac at Hermosillo International Airport, where more than one hundred Guardsmen arrived on Tuesday.
'There will be activities in urban areas, rural areas, customs houses and roads with the purpose of limiting the flow of drugs, especially fentanyl,' the inspector general said. 'Likewise, gun-trafficking and reducing the generators of violence and the flow of migration.'
The Mexican National Guard members are distributed to several municipalities across Sonora along the border, Rodríguez Alexander said.
Nogales and San Luis Río Colorado host the two most significant shares of Guard members, with about 400 soldiers stationed in each. Sonoyta, Agua Prieta, and Naco each house 200 Guard members, and 100 are deployed to Sasabe.
Mexico also sent troops to other border cities, including Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, and all border states.
The deployment is part of an agreement postponing a 25% tariff imposed by President Donald Trump Saturday in an executive order. Sheinbaum agreed to reinforce the border with her soldiers, announcing in a post on X. that members of the Mexican National Guard would help "prevent drug trafficking to the United States."
Trump has said that the tariffs are necessary 'to protect Americans' as he continues to pressure both Canada and Mexico to put more resources into curbing the export of fentanyl and reduce illegal immigration into the U.S.
The president's executive order alleged that the Mexican government is in an 'intolerable alliance' with drug trafficking organizations, giving criminals 'safe havens' to manufacture drugs.
'We categorically reject the White House's slander that the Mexican government has alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention of meddling in our territory,' Sheinbaum wrote on social media.
Mexico's Secretariat of National Defense, known as SEDENA, shared images and videos of troops boarding transport planes from army bases in Mexico City and scattered through the country's southeastern region.
Sonora Gov. Alfonso Durazo Montaño told reporters that he would support the federal government's military deployment with Sonora's state police and that the state was preparing for large numbers of deportees.
"We have worked on the infrastructure for the eventual increase in the return of migrants," said the governor, according to reporting by the Mexican outlet El Sol de Hermosillo. "The daily numbers on the return of migrants have not changed in their historical average."
Have any news tips or story ideas about the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona? Reach the reporter at rromeroruiz@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @raphaeldelag.
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