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MEXICO TRAVEL LIMITATIONS

Due to increased criminal activity and specific threats, some directed at

U.S. citizens and military personnel, the border areas of Mexico along the

Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California borders are off limits. This change is effective immediately.

Active duty, Guardsmen and Reservists on Title 10 status, and tenant units attached to Luke AFB, are prohibited from personal travel to or through the Mexican border cities of Ciudad Acuna, Juarez, Las Palomas, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Piedras Negras, Agua Prieta Nogales, Sasabe, Naco, Sonoyta and Tijuana until further notice. Air travel to Mexican cities south of the border area is authorized with unit commander’s approval of a Personal Force Protection Plan. EXCEPTION: Personnel on official travel are not prohibited from entering these areas.

DoD civilians, contractors and military or civilian family members are highly discouraged from travel to the cities previously listed. Should travel to Mexico be considered, recommend personnel seek the assistance from their assigned unit to complete a Force Protection Travel Plan. For more information, contact your Anti-terrorism Officer.

Subject: Mexico Travel Limitations, 17 Dec 2008 UPDATED)

The US Marines have tightened any Mexico travel even further

“”The top commander here has ordered that all Marines, including officers and senior enlisted Marines, must have their unit’s permission before traveling to Mexico.

Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, I Marine Expeditionary Force commander, issued the tighter rules only a few weeks after he and other senior Marine Corps and Navy regional commanders clamped down on travel south of the border, where escalating violence between warring drug cartels is blamed for the deaths of nearly 6,000 people last year.

Recent media reports have suggested that Tijuana specifically is off limits, but a closer look at Helland’s updated Mexico travel policy shows that’s not exactly right.

“All I MEF personnel traveling to Mexico on leave, liberty or official business [must] possess a liberty chit signed by the first O-5 or higher in the traveler’s chain of command,” Helland’s policy states. I MEF includes West Coast-based infantry, aviation and logistics units.

The previous policy, adopted Dec. 24, required liberty chits only for staff sergeants and below.

In recent months, Mexican military personnel and police have confronted drug-trafficking organizations using automatic weapons, grenades and rocket-propelled grenades, officials have said.

“Due to the degree of prolonged, escalating violence, I MEF will extend the current liberty policy to a standing policy for all travel to Mexico,” the new policy states. “This is a prudent step in addressing the real threat to our personnel by ensuring a baseline level of oversight for any travel into the area. I MEF will continue to assess the situation and relax or tighten these procedures accordingly.”

The policy also applies to Marines and I MEF sailors whose immediate families live in Mexico.

Unit commanders can order stricter rules for their personnel, and since the Dec. 24 regional order, some units already were requiring liberty chits for all Marines and sailors who want to go to Mexico.

Under that broader policy, troops traveling to Mexico must:

• Use the “buddy system” with an approved liberty buddy.

• Receive a security brief.

• Complete the “Level I” anti-terrorism training class within the past 12 months.

• Register with the U.S. consulate in Mexico at  http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/registration/registration_1186.html  “”

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