Mexico Demands US Provide Evidence of Border Shooting, Raising Fears Over Troop Deployment
Al Jazeera Staff
Mexico has formally requested that the United States provide evidence of a reported cross-border shooting allegedly targeting US security personnel. President Claudia Sheinbaum says Mexican forces found no evidence that shots were fired from Mexican territory, while Washington has deployed around 500 troops to the border area amid rising bilateral tensions.
The Mexican government has formally asked the United States to provide evidence of a cross-border shooting reportedly aimed at American security personnel, as bilateral tensions over border security continue to escalate.
Speaking at her daily press conference on Monday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Washington had reported "shots fired from the Mexican side of the border." However, she stressed: "We have asked for all the evidence, because we have none." According to Sheinbaum, Mexico's National Guard, Army and Navy found no evidence of any shots fired from Mexican territory toward the United States.
The Mexican leader's statement came a day after US Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson wrote on social media platform X about the shooting, which was reported to have occurred in the state of Texas, across from Mexico's Tamaulipas state, in late September. Johnson said the targets were members of the US Coast Guard and that the threat would be "dealt with quickly."
"The US Embassy in Mexico is helping coordinate with Mexican forces deploying to the border area where US Coast Guard personnel were shot at," Johnson wrote. "Together, we intend to patrol both sides of our shared border, protect our communities and make it harder for criminal and terrorist organizations to operate."
Since the reported incident, roughly 500 US military personnel, along with helicopters, drones and counter-drone equipment, have been sent to the border region. For its part, Mexico has also deployed forces to the border as part of a joint operation called "Operation Mirror" between the two countries to protect the frontier.
At Monday's press conference, Sheinbaum confirmed Mexico's deployment was intended to "prevent any problems" that might arise. However, relations between Ambassador Johnson and President Sheinbaum have frequently been strained in recent months over disagreements on border security and national sovereignty.
Johnson, a former member of the US Army's Green Berets who also served in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has held the ambassador's post in Mexico since May 2025 under President Donald Trump.
Since returning to the White House for a second term, Trump has sought to expand US influence in Latin America as part of an informal policy dubbed the "Donroe Doctrine" – a variation on the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine. His administration has also taken a more active role in regional security, citing the fight against drug trafficking and criminal organizations.
Trump has repeatedly said he could carry out military airstrikes inside Mexican territory to target drug cartels he claims are "running Mexico," framing their presence as a threat to US security. Sheinbaum has warned that such an operation would violate Mexico's sovereignty.
Tensions between Mexico and the Trump administration have frayed relations with Ambassador Johnson. Sheinbaum has accused the ambassador of overstepping diplomatic norms, while Johnson has sought to push the Mexican government to cooperate with Trump's demands. In June, Johnson criticized Sheinbaum's government on social media for turning the "war on cartels" into a "political dispute." Sheinbaum responded the following day with a warning: "Ambassadors must respect the internal political affairs of their country."
US and Mexican law enforcement agencies have long cooperated on anti-drug operations, but Trump's military approach has created friction with left-wing governments, including Mexico's.
On Monday, Sheinbaum also criticized Johnson for announcing the opening of an international police academy in the central Mexican state of Queretaro without notifying her government. "How can a groundbreaking ceremony take place with the US ambassador and a Mexican governor present, but without the federal security cabinet?" she asked.
Under Mexico's constitution, the federal government must approve operations by foreign forces on Mexican territory. That rule was tested earlier this year when two alleged CIA officers were killed in a car accident in April in the northern state of Chihuahua, along with state law enforcement members. It remains unclear what the CIA officers were doing in Chihuahua. Some reports suggested they may have been involved in a state-led raid on a local drug lab without federal authorization, while a state official denied this and said the officers were conducting unrelated drone training. Sheinbaum has said she and her cabinet were not informed of any CIA activity, and the Mexican government has pledged to investigate the incident.
