Mexico’s National Guard seals off 23 municipalities along border with Guatemala

Mexico’s Federal Government

has sealed off 23 municipalities in the country’s southern border, with 6,300 troops from the newly formed National Guard aiding the National Migration Institute (INM) in the containment of Central American migrants.

These actions came as a result of threats from U.S. President Donald Trump to impose 5% tariffs on Mexican goods if Mexico did not take “stronger measures” to stem the tide of migration from Central America to the U.S. southern border.

The troops that were deployed in the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, and Quintana Roo , adjacent to Guatemala and Belize, are being coordinated from 11 key emerging priority areas created by the government’s security cabinet in response to the migration crisis.

According to the official deployment plan, a total of 3,900 guards , more than half of the National Guard forces, were distributed through regional coordinations in Comitlán de Domínguez, Huehuetán, Las Margaritas, Ocosingo, Palenque, and Tapachula.

Said regions cover the Suchiate, Metapa, Frontera Hidalgo, Tuxtla Chico, Unión Juárez, Cacahuatán, Motozintla, Mazapa, Amatenango de la Frontera, Frontera Comalapa, La Trinitaria, Marqués de Comillas, Maravilla Tenejapa, and Benemérito de las Américas municipalities. Around 350 National Guard elements are operating at each border community through control posts and operations to regulate entry and exit points.

Chiapas shares the largest border extension with Guatemala , one of the three main sources of migrants along with Honduras and El Salvador .

There are currently 500 agents in the Macuspana and Tenosique regions; 600 distributed through the capital of Campeche, Carmen, Candelaria, and Calakmul; and another 300 in Othón de Puente Blanco, in the state of Quintana Roo, according to a report consulted by EL UNIVERSAL .

The National Guard, composed of members of Military, Navy, and Federal police, was added to Mexico’s increasing efforts to conduct surveillance tasks and review documents, aiding in the work of INM agents along the border.

Security and Citizen Protection minister (SSPC) Alfonso Durazo Montaño

defended the participation of the National Guard in the containment of migrants, claiming that the new security corps is more than competent in the field.

He added that the newly ratified National Guard Law granted the faculty to inspect migration documents alongside the INM to corroborate their regular stay in Mexican territory while observing the protection of their Human Rights.

Mexico’s southern border has 11 official crossing points, seven of which are located in Chiapas, three in Quintana Roo, and one in Tabasco.

Around 1.6 million people live in Mexico’s border municipalities, which is 1.4% of Mexico’s total population.

According to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP) , a total of 84 murders were registered in the region as of April 2019, which accounts for 0.88% of total murders registered in the Mexican territory between January and April.

As part of Mexico’s plan to tackle migration, the Welfare Ministry has also sent 200 workers to Chiapas to apply development and welfare programs in the border region.

144,000 migrants arrived at Mexico-U.S. border in 2019

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