The State Department is beginning a review of all 53 Mexican consulates operating in the United States, and a U.S. official said Thursday the process could lead Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider closing some of the diplomatic offices.
The move comes as bilateral tensions rise over security cooperation and cartel violence, and follows the deaths of two American CIA officers after a counter-narcotics operation in northern Mexico last month. Dylan Johnson said the Department of State is constantly reviewing all aspects of American foreign relations to ensure they align with President Donald Trump's America First foreign policy agenda and advance American interests.
Mexico has the largest foreign consular network in the United States, and its offices provide documentation and legal aid to millions of Mexican citizens living across the country. Most are concentrated in border states and cities with large Mexican American populations, including California, Texas and Arizona.
The review also lands against a recent history of diplomatic confrontation. In 2017, the U.S. ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco, along with diplomatic facilities in Washington and New York, after Moscow expelled American diplomats. In 2020, the Trump administration ordered China's consulate in Houston to close as relations with Beijing deteriorated.
Tensions between Washington and Mexico spiked last month after two American officials and two Mexican investigators died when their vehicle crashed in a remote mountain region during a counter-narcotics operation. U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson announced the deaths of two embassy staff members in a post on X on April 19, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the American officers may not have had authorization from the federal government to operate in the country and publicly demanded explanations from the Trump administration.
The friction widened further after the U.S. announced drug trafficking and weapons charges against top Mexican political figures and issued multiple extradition requests, including one for Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya. Mexico's Foreign Ministry sent a diplomatic note to Washington requesting evidence from the U.S. Justice Department, and the country's Attorney General's Office said it would investigate if credible evidence was provided. Rocha denied the accusations and called them false, then said he would temporarily leave office to focus on his defense and cooperate with Mexican authorities as the case proceeds.
The State Department review does not yet mean closures are certain, but it makes the Mexican consular network part of a broader dispute over security, sovereignty and the reach of U.S. pressure inside Mexico. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico said combating corruption and transnational organized crime remains a shared priority for both governments.