SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Mexico has sent 1,000 members of its National Guard to the border in Northern Baja California, but up until Thursday, the soldiers’ role has not been defined.
Baja California’s head of public safety, Brig. Gen. Laureano Carrillo Rodríguez, said a total of 3,100 troops will focus their efforts in areas along the border barrier and will support Mexican Customs at border crossings.
Of those soldiers, almost 2,000 will be deployed to the San Diego-Tijuana border.
The others will be sent to Mexicali and Tecate, according to Carrillo Rodríguez.
“From time to time you’ll also have state and municipal police officers making patrols along the border,” he said. “I don’t know whether the members of the National Guard will approach or apprehend migrants trying to cross the border, they have their own roles and defined assignments.”
The National Guard troops in Baja California are part of a promise by Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum to send 10,000 soldiers to the border to help reduce the amount of migrants and drugs, especially fentanyl, from getting to the U.S.
According to Carrillo Rodríguez, as of this week, they have not seen an increase in the number of migrants trying to cross the border into the United States.
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