Travel warning Mexico: U.S. citizens urged to avoid Tijuana and Rosarito
Vehicles wait to cross the San Ysidro Port of Entry in Tijuana, Mexico, on Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. (Cesar Rodriguez/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The U.S. Embassy has issued a travel warning for Tijuana and Rosarito, Baja California due to a risk of kidnappings, injury, or death.
The July 4th warning states that there is the potential for confrontations between criminal organizations and Mexican security forces in Baja California, following the July 2 arrest of a prominent cartel leader.
“U.S. citizens should expect to encounter increased Mexican law enforcement presence in those areas. Criminal organization assassinations and territorial disputes can result in bystanders being injured or killed,” the travel advisory stated.
The Department of State’s Travel Advisory for Baja California has been raised to Level 3 and U.S. tourists are being told to reconsider travel due to crime and kidnappings.
Travel warnings by the U.S. for Tijuana are common.
In March the state department issued a warning about crime and kidnappings. It warned that “travelers should remain on main highways and avoid remote locations … of particular concern is the high number of homicides in the non-tourist areas of Tijuana.”
For people who choose to ignore the risk and travel anyway they recommend:
– Be aware of your surroundings.
– Maintain a high level of vigilance and keep a low profile.
– Monitor local media for updates and in case of emergency, call 911.
– Review your personal security plans and follow the instructions of local authorities.
I encountered similar warnings up close in November 2018. I was visiting family in Las Vegas, and they wanted to take a road trip. Asked where I’d like to go. I didn’t hesitate:
”San Diego; Tijuana.”
Why?
I wanted to see the lineup of eight big samples of Donald Trump’s vaunted border wall, which had been erected along the wire fence they were meant to replace.
They were, new, unique, supposedly unclimbable. They were intended to be enduring monuments, the fast-food-loving president’s instant answer to the Pyramids of Egypt (or was it the Great Wall of China; I can’t recall which. (Both?)
i wondered whether they’d be so everlasting, rather than become replicas of the mythical Ozymandias; so I wanted to get my look at them, and snap some pictures, while I could.
The relatives were up for it, and soon we were on the road trip that soon turned into an actual adventure . . . . (For the rest of the surprising true story — click this link.)