Mexico Travel? Urgent US Warnings!
State Department "Do Not Travel" warning to Texans covers many International Bridges into Mexico due to cartel attacks.

If you plan to visit Mexico from the US - either by car or crossing over an International Bridge on foot, you should know that many of the legal crossing points are currently subject to the US State Department's two highest travel warning levels - with about half of the Texas-Mexico border just moved up to a "Level 4 - Do Not Travel" Advisory due to extraordinary levels of Mexican Cartel violence.
For reference - below are the four travel advisory levels issued by the State Department to US residents:
Texas crossing points under a "Do Not Travel" advisory stretch from Laredo southward all the way to Brownsville. This "level 4" advisory - which was issued on Monday, January 27, 2025- covers all of the Mexican State of Tamaulipas on the other side of the Rio Grande border from Texas.
The map below shows the area to which US residents are warned against travel:

Before the US warned its citizens and residents from traveling there, the State of Tamaulipas was warning Mexican residents there about improvised explosive devices (IEDs) the cartels were placing on roadways near its Rio Grande border with Texas:

On Thursday, January 23, 2025, a cartel IED destroyed a Government of Mexico (Conagua) vehicle in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, (which is across the river from Donna, Texas), injuring the driver, according to the US State Department:

That alarming incident was cited by the US State Department as a factor in issuing the "Do Not Travel" (to Tamaulipas, Mexico) Advisory to US citizens:

"The U.S. Consulate is aware of increasingly frequent gun battles occurring in and around Reynosa in the late night and early morning hours. Separately, the state of Tamaulipas has issued a warning to avoid moving or touching improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have been found in and around the area of Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, and San Fernando along dirt and secondary roads. IEDs are being increasingly manufactured and used by criminal organizations in this region. An IED destroyed a Government of Mexico (Conagua) official vehicle in Rio Bravo and injured its occupant on January 23, (2025). The State Department’s Travel Advisory for Tamaulipas is Level 4 – Do Not Travel Due to Crime and Kidnapping." -US State Department (January 27, 2025)
The day the State Department issued that "Do Not Travel" advisory, the security situation between Texas and Tamaulipas, Mexico worsened:

US Border Patrol Agents - who interrupted an attempt by Mexican Cartel Smugglers to move migrants across the river into Texas - were fired upon by Cartel gunmen in Tamaulipas on Monday, January 27, 2025. The US Agents returned fire into Mexico. No one was injured - and the migrants were turned back.
I wrote in detail about this incident HERE.
As I noted at the top of this article, many International Bridges between the US & Mexico stretching westward along the border from Laredo (as well as their corresponding Mexican States) are under the next highest US State Department advisory: (Level 3 -reconsider travel).
See the maps below:
International Bridges into the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, from Presidio, Texas, Tornillo, Texas, Fort Hancock, Texas, El Paso County, Texas, and three Ports of Entry in New Mexico (Antelope Wells, Columbus, and Santa Teresa) are under a "Level 3" (Reconsider Travel) Advisory:
A half-dozen ports of entry between Arizona & the Mexican States of Sinaloa & Sonora are also under a "Level 3" (Reconsider Travel) US State Department Advisory.
If you are considering travel into the Interior of Mexico, you should know that a half-dozen Mexican states (as I write this) are under a "Level 4 - Do Not Travel" advisory, while another seven states are under a "Level 3 - Reconsider Travel" advisory by the US State Department.
You can find the current US State Department Travel Advisory Levels for ALL Mexican States HERE.
Would you travel to Mexico, given the security situation along the US-Mexico Southern Border?
Share your opinion in the comments on this article!
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers