As the United States beefs up security at its southern border as part of the Trump administration’s illegal immigration crackdown, the State Department has issued the highest-level travel advisory for a specific region of northeastern Mexico near McAllen and Brownsville, Texas.

Amid gun battles, kidnappings and other crime, the State Department is also warning of IEDs on dirt roads in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

“[T]he state of Tamaulipas has issued a warning to avoid moving or touching improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have been found in and around the area of Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, and San Fernando along dirt and secondary roads,” a State Department travel advisory for Tamaulipas reads. “IEDs are being increasingly manufactured and used by criminal organizations in this region.”

The U.S. Consulate in Mexico notes in the advisory that an IED destroyed an official Mexican government vehicle in Rio Bravo on Jan. 23, injuring its occupant. 

A Spanish flier published by the Tamaulipas government on Facebook urges the public not to touch or move suspicious-looking devices along the roadside.

The State Department noted in its advisory that heavily armed criminal groups often target certain areas and target “public and private passenger buses, as well as private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments.” 

The Level 4 warning comes as the Trump administration begins its crackdown on illegal immigration and crime at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Brown compared the level of violence in Tamaulipas to the Middle East.

“We think of the Middle East as extremely violent, wouldn’t want to go there, but all we have to do is look towards Mexico.”

— Michael Brown

“[It] wasn’t that long ago before [the] Sinaloa Cartel was executing police officers and hanging them from bridges,” Brown said. “Now, we didn’t even see that level of violence in Afghanistan when I was there. So, the cartels have taken violence to a whole other level. They are acting just like any terrorist organization. The only difference is their end goal is to make money. That’s their ideology.”

A member of the Mexican Navy stands guard as a temporary shelter is built on the border in Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, on Jan. 22, 2025, ahead of President Donald Trump’s promised deportations. (QUETZALLI BLANCO/AFP)

Officials deported around 2,000 illegal immigrants to Mexico last Thursday, both on the ground and in the air. Mexican officials detained roughly 5,000 migrants within its borders, Fox News reported. 

Trump also ordered 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern border to boost the military presence there.

Fox News’ Micharl Dorgan and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.