EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The U.S. State Department is calling on Americans to stay away from the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas and to reconsider travel to Baja California, Sonora, and Chihuahua.

The latest travel advisory posted on August 12 cites violent crime in those states, including homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery. It also alludes to a “risk of terroristic violence” in some areas.

Tamaulipas – where Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, and Matamoros border the South Texas communities of Laredo, Hidalgo County, and Brownsville – is designated as a Level 4 risk: Do not travel.

“Criminal groups target public and private buses as well as cars traveling through Tamaulipas. Criminals often kidnap passengers for ransom,” the advisory states. “Heavily armed members of criminal

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