U.S. Issues Security Alert, Halts Travel to Major Mexican City

The U.S. government is warning about travel to Mexicali, Mexico, and suspending all government activities in the city, “due to threat information.”

In a warning on Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy said that all travel to Mexicali has been suspended because of “this potential threat,” which was not identified in the alert.

Mexicali is the capital of the state of Baja California, Mexico, and the second-most populous city in Baja California behind Tijuana. It sits directly along the U.S.-Mexico border across from Calexico, California.

The U.S. is telling all Americans in the city to avoid government buildings, seek shelter in case of an incident, monitor local media for updates, and be aware of surroundings if they are in Mexicali.

The alert is only for Mexicali and does not include other cities in Baja California or throughout Mexico.

As of Wednesday, the U.S. State Department has a Level 2 – Exercise Increased Caution warning for Mexico as a whole, the same level as many other popular outbound travel destinations for Americans, like France, Italy, Turks and Caicos, and more.

The State Department breaks down that warning by state, and most Mexican states, including Quintana Roo, Oaxaca, and Mexico City, are in that Level 2 designation.

Some others, like Baja California, Chihuahua, and Jalisco, are in Level 3 – Reconsider Travel. Just six of Mexico’s states are under the State Department’s Level 4 – Do Not Travel designation: Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas.

As with travel to other destinations, the State Department advises Americans traveling to Mexico to enroll in STEP, the agency’s update and alert system.