Due to violent crime and kidnappings, the U.S. State Department warns Americans from going to six Mexican states and suggests reconsidering visiting seven others. Thirty of Mexico’s 32 states have travel advisories in effect.
A Level 1 warning means “exercise normal precautions.” A Level 2 warning means “exercise increased caution.” A Level 3 warning means “reconsider travel.” A Level 4 warning means “do not travel.”
The Level 4 states are: Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas.
The Level 3 states are: Baja California, Chihuahua, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos and Sonora.
The Level 2 states are: Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Coahuila, Hidalgo, Mexico City, Mexico State, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretero, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Tabasco, Tlaxcala and Veracruz.
The Level 1 states are Campeche and Yucatan.
A total of 31,127 people were killed in Mexico in 2021, an increase of 10% from 2021 when 28,200. In 2020, he death toll was 34,523 people, slightly from 35,000 killings in 2019. In 2018, there were 33,500 killings. A total of 126 million people live in Mexico, By comparison, 330 million people live in the U.S. There were 21,570 homicides in the U.S. in 2020, an increase of 24% from 2019.
The seven most violent Mexican states are Guanajuato (2,823 murders in 2021), Baja California (2,656), Mexico State (2,346), Michoacán (2,234), Chihuahua (2,056), Jalisco (1,826) and Sonora (1,600).
