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US sanctions more than 50 Jalisco cartel-linked individuals and businesses

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The U.S. Treasury on Thursday imposed sanctions on 39 Mexican individuals and 16 companies it alleges are linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), calling it “the largest action ever taken” against the notorious crime gang. The measure targets the leadership of the cartel — designated by President Donald Trump as a foreign terrorist organization — and its illicit financing networks across Mexico. The Treasury Department said in a statement that the goal of the sanctions is to limit the CJNG’s ability to traffic fentanyl and other drugs into the United States. Shortly thereafter, Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) reported it had identified “indicators related to possible operations with resources of illicit origin, including cash transactions, acquisition of high-end vehicles, jewelry and real estate,” as well as “international transfers, intensive use of credit and debit cards and transactions using virtual assets.” As a result of this review, Mexico blocked ...
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Trump re-imposes his tariffs, but Mexico gets a pass

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The U.S. government imposed new tariffs on 80 countries effective on Friday, but Mexico escaped relatively unscathed. Taxes on Mexican goods replace the 10% duty U.S. President Donald Trump dictated in February after the Supreme Court invalidated the broad-based tariffs he had applied last year. Those original replacement tariffs were valid for only 150 days, prompting Friday’s new levies. Despite Trump’s constant tariff threats and negative statements about the USMCA, Mexico and the U.S. continue to pursue trade ties, including an informal discussion this week during USTR Jamieson Greer’s visit to Mexico City.(Presidencia) U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer informed President Claudia Sheinbaum of the pending decision during a Thursday morning meeting at the National Palace. Afterward, Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard explained that the 10% tariff does not affect approximately 80% of the products Mexico exports to the U.S.  “Mexican products that com...
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900 more troops arrive in Mazatlán after a series of targeted attacks

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A contingent of 900 Mexican Army troops  arrived in the early hours of Thursday at the port of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, as part of a security reinforcement in response to a series of armed attacks in recent weeks. City Clerk Moisés Ríos Pérez said the newly arrived soldiers bring the total number of troops for the enhanced security operations to around more than 1,300. Ríos explained that the Public Security amd Defense Ministries, and other authorities involved in daily security meetings, are working on accommodating the new troops before defining their operational deployment. “Nine hundred arrived at midnight yesterday; we are struggling to relocate them at the moment,” Ríos told local media. “But we’re hoping that with this new number we can now deploy them throughout the municipality . . .  to prevent more [violence].”  The security reinforcement, a joint effort among federal, state and municipal authorities,  comes in response to a surge in violence that has marked the start of the...
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Michoacán priest douses crowd with pressurized holy water, sparking online debate

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A Catholic priest in the western Mexican state of Michoacán has gone viral after a video showed him using a pressure washer to spray holy water over a crowd during a patron saint festival. The footage, widely shared across TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, shows Father Rubén Pérez Rubio standing in the bed of a white pickup truck during celebrations honoring Saint James the Apostle in Contepec, a Michoacán municipality of about 35,000 near the Querétaro border. Holding a pressure washer (hidrolavadora in Spanish) he directs a stream of holy water (agua bendita) toward dozens of parishioners gathered outside the church on Wednesday. The unusual method allowed the priest to reach a large crowd at once, with attendees — including women, children and elderly worshippers — reacting with laughter, raised hands and applause as they received the blessing. “May my magnanimous mercy pour out its grace upon you all,” the priest says in Spanish in the video. Local accounts cited by El Univ...
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Oaxaca journalist, known for criticizing governor, shot dead; Feds takes over the case

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Journalist Francisco Alejandro Leyva was shot and killed Wednesday in San Pablo Etla, a suburb of Oaxaca city, the second media figure slain in Mexico in less than a week.  Leyva, a former executive producer of the Oaxacan Radio and Television Corporation, was attacked while eating breakfast at a street food stand. The gunmen escaped on a motorcycle. Leyva was buried on Thursday in Oaxaca City. (Carolina Jiménez Mariscal / Cuartoscuro.com) The 60-year-old was well-known for his column “El zumbido de moscardón” (“The buzzing of a bumblebee”), in which he critically analyzed political life and corruption in the state of Oaxaca. Hours after his murder, state prosecutors said video intelligence had already been uncovered from local CCTV. On Thursday, the Federal Attorney General’s Office said it would take over the investigation at the request of Oaxaca authorities, assigning it to the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Human Rights. As of noon Thursday, authorities had not cited a ...
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Report: Mexico-born population of US drops to 11.1 million

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Mexicans are the largest immigrant group in the United States, but their numbers declined by more than 500,000 between 2007 and 2024, according to a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that specializes in migration issues. In a report published last week, the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) said that during “the past four and a half decades, the size of the Mexican-born population increased fivefold, from 2.2 million in 1980 to an estimated 11.1 million in 2024.” There are many fewer Mexican immigrants in the U.S. now than there used to be. We analyze the changing shape of the Mexican immigrant population in our new article: https://t.co/wziuFZMd6W pic.twitter.com/v59T1RzSKl — MigrationPolicy Inst (@MigrationPolicy) July 16, 2026 “However,” the think tank added, “the number has declined slightly, from a peak of more than 11.7 million in 2007.” Still, per the 2024 estimate, Mexicans accounted for 22% of the total U.S. immigrant population in 2...
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Mexico confirms 20 ICE death complaints filed across 8 US states

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) reported on Wednesday that the Mexican government last week filed a total of 20 complaints with prosecutor’s offices in the U.S. regarding the deaths of Mexican citizens in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or during ICE operations. The federal government first announced on July 9 that it would file criminal complaints in connection with the deaths of 17 Mexicans, 14 of whom died in ICE detention centers since May 2025 and three of whom died during ICE operations. The Mexican government announced its intention to take legal action after the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston on July 7. (LULAC Institute via GoFundMe) President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday, July 13, that the complaints would be filed that day. Her administration is seeking thorough investigations into the deaths of all Mexicans who have died under ICE custody or in ICE operations. In an “ information note ” published on W...
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