SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — When Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged to send 10,000 troops to the border to keep tariffs on Mexican products from being implemented by the White House, more than 500 soldiers were deployed to the Tijuana area.
Many of them have been placed at points where migrants and smugglers are known to cross the border, especially in the mountains east of the city.
A Border Report crew was invited to tour areas where the soldiers have been working and where camps are being built to house them.
Portable lights, beds, showers and bathrooms have been brought in at several locations between Tijuana and the city of Tecate, about 60 miles to the east.
Border Report saw many of the soldiers with weapons standing at the base of the border barrier; others moved around on trucks along the fencing.
Some were also at checkpoints located on a Highway 20, which runs parallel to the border.
They were checking cars and trucks to make sure drugs and migrants were not being transported.
“I think it’s good, really good,” said resident Ricardo Monroy. “I think it’s good the soldiers are here, it should help make the area safer.
It’s not the first time Mexico has sent national guard troops to the border to help fight crime, although many remain skeptical and have questioned their effectiveness in the past.
But some, like Luis Alonso Cardenas, were willing to give the troops the benefit of the doubt.
“I’m glad they’re inspecting everyone,” he said. “I just hope they do it right, and I hope this works, that’s what I wish for, I’m sure others feel the same way.”
But Cardenas also said, for residents like him, stopping the flow of migrants into the U.S. is not a priority nor as important as minimizing crime and keeping illicit drugs out of the region.
Since most of the fentanyl that comes into the U.S. is hidden in cars and commercial trucks that cross the border through ports of entry, many national guard troops have also been posted at border crossings.
They will be checking vehicles as they leave Mexico.
Mexico has said the troops will remain in place for an indefinite period of time.