The US State Department has reiterated its “do not travel” warning for parts of Mexico as Americans plan their next spring break.
“The safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad is a top priority of the Department, and we provide U.S. citizens with relevant information so they can make well-informed decisions before traveling,” a State Department spokesperson told Fox News. Digital, noting that the last warning was issued on October 5, 2022.
But the department, which regularly reviews travel advisories, said it had “no changes to the Mexico travel advisory to announce or preview.”
Mexico ranks as the top international destination for Americans traveling for spring break, with three different locations in Mexico ranked in the top 10, according to an Allianz Partners survey of nearly 1.8 million flight itineraries.
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News Nation Now reported that more than 30 million Americans traveled to Mexico in the first 11 months of 2022 alone.
Tourists walk on a beach in Playa del Carmen, Mexico on Tuesday, July 11, 2017. (Brett Gundlock/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The State Department currently rates six Mexican states as having Level 4 travel advisory issues, i.e. those areas with “the most likelihood of life-threatening risks”: Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas, all at risk of high crime and almost all at high risk of seizure.
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“Violent crime and gang activity are rife,” said an area department’s warning. “Most of the killings are targeted killings against members of criminal organizations.”
CANCUN, MEXICO – MARCH 8: DJ Irie performs during Spring Break at Grand Oasis Cancun on March 8, 2022 in Cancun, Mexico. (Thaddaeus McAdams/Getty Images)
“Shooting incidents between criminal gangs have injured or killed bystanders,” he continued. “US Citizens and LPRs Have Been Victims of Kidnappings.”
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Seven other states have a Level 3 travel risk, primarily due to high crime risk but some kidnapping risk areas, including Baja California, Chihuahua, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos, and Sonora.
CANCUN, MEXICO – MARCH 14: Guests attend Victoria’s Secret PINK Nation Hosts Spring Break Bash on March 14, 2017, in Cancun, Mexico. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria’s Secret Pink)
Only two of Mexico’s 32 states, Campeche and Yucatán, currently have the lowest level of precaution, “normal precaution designation.”
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The areas of greatest concern are on the coast and in border areas. The department lists homicides, kidnappings, carjackings and robberies as “widespread and common in Mexico.”
People walk along the beach in Playa del Carmen, Mexico on Tuesday, July 11, 2017. (Brett Gundlock/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The US government has limited ability to provide emergency services to US citizens in many areas of Mexico, as travel by US government employees to certain areas is prohibited or restricted,” the latest notice reads. trip to Mexico. “In many states, local emergency services are limited outside the state capital or major cities.”
Mexican officials have urged the US State Department to reconsider its heightened warnings in November last year.
Guests gather in the hotel lobby after a reported shooting at the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun resort, in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Nov. 4, 2021, in this still image obtained from a social media video. (Mike Sington/Handout via Reuters)
Mexico’s tourism ministry said it had urged the United States to adjust its travel advisories to several Mexican states in order to “detail areas that could pose problems and not generalize, as some isolated cases of insecurity are several miles away.” from tourist destinations”.
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The news release suggested that the United States is open to changing the guidance, quoting Angela Kerwin, US State Department’s consular affairs secretary, as saying during a meeting that “timely information is key to boosting tourism from the nation.” close to Mexico, and in this way tourists and residents of the United States know in a timely manner the condition of the destination they visit or where they reside”.
Andrew Mark Miller of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
