The State Department continues to warn Americans not to travel to Mexico due to increased crime, violence and cartel activity. Last August the department warned specifically that Americans should not go to six Mexican states and to “reconsider” traveling to others.

Earlier this month, Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw said “Drug cartel violence and other criminal activity represent a significant safety threat to anyone who crosses into Mexico right now.”

“We have a duty to inform the public about safety, travel risks and threats. Based on the volatile nature of cartel activity and the violence we are seeing there, we are urging individuals to avoid travel to Mexico at this time” he continued.

The U.S. State Department and Texas Department of Public Safety say the warning is not just for spring breakers, as over 558 Americans have been reported and are still missing in Mexico. According to the Washington Post, the number is up from 324 reported in 2020, which the Post says is “almost certainly an undercount.”

“Soaring violence and government dysfunction have fueled a crisis that’s left at least 112,150 people missing,” reports the Post pointing to its 2020 analysis of people missing by country of origin.

At the time in 2020, notes the Post, it was “the worst crisis of the disappeared in Latin America since the Cold War, when military-backed governments kidnapped and secretly killed their leftist opponents – an estimated 45,000 in Guatemala, up to 30,000 in Argentina, as many as 3,400 in Chile. And Mexico’s numbers keep rising. … Mexicans are uncovering two clandestine graves a day, on average.”

The Center Square writes:

Those who don’t heed Texas DPS or State Department travel warnings are urged to register with a U.S. Embassy or Consulate prior to leaving. While DPS says it understands that “many people do travel to Mexico without incident … serious risks … cannot be ignored” and Americans must “consider postponing or canceling travel to Mexico.”