Mexico

The number of foreign visitors to the United States continues to decline, as a range of policies put forth by the administration of US President Donald Trump has made tourists wary of travelling to the country.

In July, foreign visits to the US decreased by 3 percent year-over-year, according to recently released preliminary government data.

That decrease follows a trend that has been seen almost every month since Trump took office in late January. For five out of six months, the US has experienced a drop in foreign visitors.

“Everyone is afraid, scared – there’s too much politics about immigration,” Luise Francine, a Brazilian tourist visiting Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera.

Experts and some local officials say Trump’s tariffs, immigration crackdown and repeated jabs about the US acquiring Canada and Greenland have alienated travellers from other parts of the world.

Ryan Bourne, an economist at the Cato Institute, told Al Jazeera that the decline in tourism was tied to both Trump’s rhetoric and policies.

“[The decrease] can be put down to the president’s trade wars and some of the fallout about fears about getting ensnared in immigration enforcement.”

Travel research firm Tourism Economics predicted last week that the US would see 8.2 percent fewer international arrivals in 2025 – an improvement from its earlier forecast of a 9.4 percent decline, but well below the numbers of foreign visitors to the country before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The sentiment drag has proven to be severe,” the firm said, noting that airline bookings indicate “the sharp inbound travel slowdown” of May, June, and July would likely persist in the months ahead.

While the July 2025 figures don’t account for neighbouring Canada and Mexico, Canadian visitors in particular have been plummeting in number. One-quarter fewer Canadians have visited the US this year compared to the same period in 2024, according to Tourism Economics.

In a major U-turn, more US residents drove into Canada in June and July than Canadians made the reverse trip, according to Canada’s national statistical agency.

Statistics Canada stated that this was the first time this had occurred in nearly two decades, except for two months during the pandemic.

‘Visa integrity fee’

Mexico, by contrast, has been one of the few countries to see tourism to the US increase. Overall, US government figures show that travel from Central America grew 3 percent through May and from South America 0.7 percent, compared with a decline of 2.3 percent from Western Europe.

But countries that have typically sent huge numbers of visitors to the US have seen major dips.

Of the top 10 overseas tourist-generating countries, only two – Japan and Italy – saw a year-over-year increase in July. Visitors from India, which ranks second, dipped by 5.5 percent, while those from China dropped nearly 14 percent.

India has seen previously warm relations sour under the Trump administration, amid steep tariffs and geopolitical tensions, while a trade war and Trump’s (since-reversed) broadsides against Chinese students have raised concerns among Chinese tourists.

Deborah Friedland, managing director at the financial services firm Eisner Advisory Group, said the US travel industry faced multiple headwinds – rising travel costs, political uncertainty and ongoing geopolitical tensions.

Since returning to office for a second term in January, Trump has doubled down on some of the hard-line policies that defined his first term, reviving a travel ban targeting mainly African and Middle Eastern countries, tightening rules around visa approvals, and ramping up mass immigration raids.

At the same time, the push for tariffs on foreign goods that quickly became a defining feature of his second term gave some citizens elsewhere a sense that they were unwanted.

A new $250 “visa integrity fee”, set to go into effect on October 1, adds a hurdle for travellers from non-visa waiver countries like Mexico, Argentina, India, Brazil and China. The extra charge raises the total visa cost to $442, one of the highest visitor fees in the world, according to the US Travel Association.

“Any friction we add to the traveller experience is going to cut travel volumes by some amount,” said Gabe Rizzi, president of Altour, a global travel management company. “As the summer ends, this will become a more pressing issue, and we’ll have to factor the fees into travel budgets and documentation.”

International visitor spending in the US is projected to fall below $169bn this year, down from $181bn in 2024, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.

In May, the group projected that the US would be the only country among the 184 it studied where foreign visitor spending would fall in 2025. The finding was “a clear indicator that the global appeal of the US is slipping”, the group said.

US tariff exemption on packages worth $800 or less due to end this week.

Mexico says it will suspend package shipments to the United States before the end of a tariff exemption for small-value packages.

The announcement on Wednesday follows similar moves by postal services from several European countries, including Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, and the United Kingdom, as they await  further details from the US government.

The “de minimis” exemption has allowed packages worth less than $800 to enter the US tariff-free since 2016, but the loophole is set to expire on Friday.

The change is expected to dent the business of Chinese e-commerce platforms like Shein and Temu – which have evaded US tariffs by mailing directly to customers – but it has also created confusion for other US trade partners. Mexico said it will suspend shipments pending more details from Washington about new duties.

“Mexico continues its dialogue with US authorities and international postal organisations to define mechanisms that will allow for the orderly resumption of services, providing certainty to users and avoiding setbacks in the delivery of goods,” the government said.

Shipping giant DHL said “key questions remain unresolved, particularly regarding how and by whom customs duties will be collected in the future, what additional data will be required, and how the data transmission to the US Customs and Border Protection will be carried out.”

The White House announced plans to suspend the de minimis exemption for all countries on July 30, as part of US President Donald Trump’s wider trade war.

The exemption was previously suspended for China, Hong Kong, Mexico, and Canada due to concerns about the flow of fentanyl and other drugs over the US border.

A White House Fact Sheet released on July 30 said two schemes may be used to calculate tariffs for small packages.

The first is calculated based on the value of the package, while the second scheme sets a tariff of $80 to $200 per item.

Both rates are based on the blanket tariff set by the Trump administration for most US trade partners in August, ranging from 10 to 40 percent.

The White House has also imposed tariffs on individual sectors, such as semiconductors, steel and aluminium, vehicles and auto parts.

Mexico is still negotiating its tariff rate with the US, and has pledged to raise tariffs on Chinese goods and take tougher measures against drug cartels to secure a deal with Trump. Some goods, however, will still be covered by the 2020 free trade US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Aug. 28 (UPI) — Mexico is temporarily suspending postal and parcel shipments to the United States, making it the latest country to halt mail delivery to the North American nation in response to President Donald Trump‘s tariffs.

Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the suspension of Correos de Mexico service to the United States in a statement Wednesday. The suspension of postal and parcel shipments went into effect Wednesday and will be in place “until new operational processes are established,” it said.

“Mexico continues to dialogue with U.S. authorities as well as international postal organizations to establish mechanisms that will allow the resumption of services in an orderly manner, providing certainty to users and avoiding disruptions in the delivery of goods,” it said.

Trump signed an executive order on July 30 suspending duty-free de minimus, which is tax free entry into the United States of packages containing goods valued at $800 or less.

The American president described the measure as one aimed at closing a “catastrophic loophole” used to evade tariffs and enable drug trafficking.

The tariffs, effective Friday, will be applied to packages and parcels originating from any country.

“For this reason, Correos de Mexico, will temporarily suspend postal and parcel shipments to the United States starting August 27, 2025,” the ministry said.

Mexico adds its name to a growing list of countries no longer shipping goods to the United States, including Australia, Britain, Germany, South Korea and others.

Add one more to the number of kids that will have Enrique Iglesias as a personal hero. The singer and his wife, Anna Kournikova, are expecting their fourth child.

They are already parents of 7-year-old twins Lucy and Nicholas and 5-year-old Mary. Iglesias and Kournikova are “overjoyed,” according to Hola! Kournikova is halfway through the pregnancy.

Iglesias, 50, returned to Spain in July to perform at the Granca Live Fest — it was his first show in his native country in six years. He has planned appearances in Mexico, India and Abu Dhabi. In 2024, the pop singer released “FINAL (Vol. 2),” the last installment of his serialized studio album farewell.

While promoting his tour in 2021, Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert with special guest Sebastián Yatra on Instagram, the singer said his “FINAL” series “might be” his last album.

“I’m in that moment in my life, that chapter in my life, where I think it’s the right time to put it out and I’ve been thinking about this since 2015,” Iglesias said.

Kournikova, 44, retired from tennis in 2003 because of injuries. In 2011, during the 12th season of NBC’s reality weight-loss competition “The Biggest Loser,” she replaced Jillian Michaels as the trainer for that one season.

The “Hero” singer and the former professional tennis player have been together since 2001. They live a private life in Miami — raising their family away from the spotlight, according to People. The two “love being parents” and spend their time “raising their children,” a source familiar with the couple told People in February.

Two more US ships said to join amphibious squadron due to arrive off coast of Venezuela in anti-drug cartel operation.

Venezuela has announced the deployment of 15,000 troops to its border with Colombia to fight drug trafficking, as the United States was reported to have sent two additional navy ships to the southern Caribbean as part of an operation against Latin American drug cartels.

Venezuelan Minister of the Popular Power for Interior Diosdado Cabello announced on Monday that Caracas would deploy 15,000 troops to bolster security in Zulia and Tachira states, which border Colombia.

“Here, we do fight drug trafficking; here, we do fight drug cartels on all fronts,” the minister said, while also announcing the seizure of 53 tonnes of drugs so far this year.

Cabello said the increased security on the border with Colombia, to “combat criminal groups”, would also involve aircraft, drones and riverine security, according to local media outlet Noticias Venevision, as he called on Colombian authorities to do the same to “ensure peace along the entire axis”.

The reinforcement of Venezuelan troops on the Colombian border comes after the Trump administration accused Venezuela’s left-wing president, Nicolas Maduro, of being involved in cocaine trafficking and working with drug cartels.

Officials in Washington, DC, have accused both Maduro and Cabello of working with the Cartel de los Soles (“Cartel of the Suns”) drug trafficking organisation, which Washington has designated a terrorist group.

The accusations were made as the US announced last week that it had doubled a reward to $50m for the capture of Maduro on drug charges. The US earlier this year increased a reward for Cabello’s arrest or prosecution from $10m to $25m.

Maduro has accused the US of attempting to foment regime change in Venezuela, and launched a nationwide drive to sign up thousands of militia members to strengthen national security in the country amid the threats from Washington.

“I am confident that we will overcome this test that life has imposed on us, this imperialist threat to the peace of the continent and to our country,” Maduro was quoted as saying in local media on Monday.

The Reuters news agency also reported on Monday that the USS Lake Erie, a guided missile cruiser, and the USS Newport News, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, will arrive in the southern Caribbean by early next week.

Citing two sources briefed on the deployment, Reuters said the missile cruiser and attack submarine would join the US amphibious squadron that was due to arrive off the coast of Venezuela on Sunday.

The squadron includes the USS San Antonio, USS Iwo Jima and USS Fort Lauderdale, and is said to be carrying 4,500 US service members, including 2,200 Marines, according to reports.

Trump has made the targeting of Latin American drug cartels a central focus of his administration, and has designated Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and other drug gangs, including Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua, as global terrorist organisations.

HERMOSILLO, Mexico — A judge in Mexico said boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. will stand trial over alleged cartel ties and arms trafficking but could await that trial outside of detention, the boxer’s lawyer said.

Chávez’s lawyer, Rubén Fernando Benítez Alvarez, confirmed that the court imposed additional measures and granted three months of further investigation into the case. He described the claims against his client as “speculation” and “urban legends” following the court hearing Saturday in the northern Mexican city of Hermosillo.

If convicted, Chávez — who took part in the hearing virtually from a detention facility — could face a prison sentence of four to eight years, Alvarez said.

Chávez, 39, who had been living in the United States for several years, was arrested in early July by federal agents outside his Los Angeles home, accused of overstaying his visa and providing inaccurate details on an application to obtain a green card. The arrest came just days after a fight he had with famed American boxer Jake Paul in Los Angeles.

Since 2019, Mexican prosecutors have been investigating the boxer following a complaint filed by U.S. authorities against the Sinaloa cartel for organized crime, human trafficking, arms trafficking and drug trafficking.

The case led to investigations against 13 people, among them Ovidio Guzmán López — the son of convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán — along with some alleged collaborators, hit men and accomplices of the criminal organization. Guzmán López was arrested in January 2023 and extradited to the U.S. eight months later.

Following the inquiry, the federal attorney general’s office issued several arrest warrants, including one for Chávez.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that Chávez was wanted since 2023 in Mexico but that he wasn’t detained because he spent most of the time in the U.S.

“The hope is that he will be deported and serve the sentence in Mexico,” Sheinbaum said in July.

The boxer, who is the son of Mexican boxing great Julio César Chávez, was deported by the U.S. on Tuesday and handed over to agents of the federal attorney general’s office in Sonora state, who transferred him to the Federal Social Reintegration Center in Hermosillo.

The high-profile case comes as the Trump administration is pressuring Mexico to crack down on organized crime, canceling visas of notable Mexican artists and celebrities and ramping up deportations.

Chávez has struggled with drug addiction throughout his career and has been arrested multiple times. In 2012, he was found guilty of driving under the influence in Los Angeles and was sentenced to 13 days in jail.

He was arrested last year on suspicion of weapons possession. Police reported that Chávez had two rifles. He was released shortly afterward upon posting $50,000 bail, on the condition that he attend a facility to receive treatment for his addiction.

Téllez writes for the Associated Press.

America First was the slogan Donald Trump championed during his re-election campaign as he promised to put the interests of Americans above those of foreign governments, immigrants and large corporations. However, the United States president has made several policy decisions that have divided his electoral base. The two guests in this episode of The Stream voted for Trump in the 2024 election but now find themselves on the opposite side of several issues: economic policy, foreign military spending and the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Presenter: Stefanie Dekker

Guests:
Ethan Levins – Social media journalist
Erol Morkoc – Spokesman, Republicans Overseas UK

A new study from the Pew Research Center released Thursday shows that the number of unauthorized immigrants — the organization’s terminology for undocumented people — reached an all-time high of 14 million people in 2023. That’s up 3.5 million from 2021, which marks the largest two-year jump the center has recorded.

Pew has sub-categorized unauthorized immigrants in two groups: those with deportation protections and those without.

“There are some people who enter the country without authorization and have remained in that status since,” the director of race and ethnicity research at Pew, Mark Hugo Lopez, told The Times. “There are others who may have come to the U.S. legally — for example on an H-1B visa — but their visa expired, they overstayed their visa and are now also classified as unauthorized immigrants, even though they entered the country legally.”

Lopez went on to explain that there’s another subset: people who entered the country without authorization but are granted a number of exemptions, particularly temporary protection from deportation through different programs. This includes people like those with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or those who are in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Unauthorized immigrants with protections were largely responsible for the increase from 2021 to 2023, Pew found.

Overall, unauthorized immigrants made up 27% of the total foreign-born population in the U.S. in 2023, with 8 million having no protections and 6 million having some level of protection.

California led the country with the largest unauthorized immigrant population at 2.3 million people, followed by Texas with 2.1 million people and Florida with 1.6 million people. The Sunshine State had the largest increase in the demographic from 2021 to 2023, probably due to then-President Biden’s immigration policies — such as the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan (CHNV) parole program.

When it came to families with mixed status, most children — 4.6 million out of 6.1 million — living with an unauthorized immigrant parent are U.S. citizens.

In regard to the U.S. workforce, unauthorized immigrants made up 5.6% of the national workforce. In California, unauthorized immigrants made up 8% of the statewide workforce by 2023.

One aspect of the research that stood out to Lopez the most was the shift in where immigrants to the U.S. are coming from, even if the country with the most people coming to the States remains the same.

“Unauthorized immigrants from Mexico are still the single largest group of unauthorized immigrants, but there are immigrants coming from many other parts of the world: from China, from India, from countries in Africa, from other parts of Latin America, including Venezuela,” Lopez noted.

Though the results of the latest Pew report focused on in-depth research of data from 2021 to 2023, the center acknowledged the new state of affairs for unauthorized immigrants over the last two years.

“The Trump administration, and the Biden administration as well, has changed who has protections and those who don’t,” Lopez said. “One large group — those in the CHNV program — had temporary protections from deportations and even permits to work in the United States temporarily. However, the Trump administration has revoked those protections, and now those immigrants are are no longer protected from possible deportation.”

Based on statistics from the Department of Homeland Security and other available government data, Pew estimates that the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population probably continued to increase through mid-2024. With the start of the new year and new presidency in 2025, Pew estimates that the unauthorized immigrant population probably declined by quite possibly as much as 1 million people. Despite that falloff, it is still believed that — as of July 2025 — the unauthorized immigrant population “almost surely” remains higher than in July 2023.

In January 2025, the census estimated the U.S. foreign-born population at an all-time high of 53.3 million people (15.8% of the total U.S. population). The agency’s data showed a decline during the first six months of 2025 and by June 2025, the foreign-born population was 51.9 million — a drop of 1.5 million people from its peak in January.

That change in data may be attributed to several different factors, Lopez pointed out.

“That may be a real decline, but it also may be that perhaps what we are seeing is a change in the way people are responding to the survey,” he said. “Or perhaps people are not responding to the survey at all, which may have an impact on our estimate of how many immigrants live in the country.”

Regarding the effect of self-deportations on the overall immigrants population in the U.S., Lopez said there is currently no data available to Pew that can definitively point to how much that process has affected the population.

“People make decisions to return to their home countries or maybe go to another country to pursue opportunities, whether economic or otherwise,” he explained. “So the idea of a particular self-deportation is really more that maybe people were choosing to leave and they’ve left in the last few months and it has more to do with their own opportunities or other decisions. While it would be great to know whether or not self-deportation has happened and how much so, we need more data to be able to give a precise estimate for that.”

With many uncertainties regarding potential future difficulties in gathering demographic information, Lopez acknowledged that Pew will have to adapt to the times.

“It is possible that we may have to make further adjustments to our estimate to capture undercount and other challenges in collecting data about immigrants and particularly unauthorized immigrants in the U.S.,” he said.

Trump’s anti-immigrant policies are driving even U.S. citizens away

De Los reporter Andrea Flores wrote about an ongoing trend of seeking dual citizenship, both among the U.S. Latinx population and the general population.

“Are we even safe as American citizens?” asked L.A. resident Julie Ear in a video interview with The Times’ Diana Ramirez Santacruz — citing instances in which U.S. citizens have been taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “ Even though we were born here, we don’t know if we’re gonna be safe long term.”

This year, Ear documented her mother’s self-deportation at the Tijuana airport in a TikTok video that has garnered 9.3 million views.

Longtime Angeleno Nicole Macias applied for dual Mexican citizenship last year and has since turned to social media to educate others about the dual citizenship process.

“The political climate right now in Los Angeles is really crazy. A lot of people just feel unsafe,” Macias told The Times. “A lot of people are turning back to this idea of being able to go back to Mexico and have an easier lifestyle.”

This trend also applies to non-Latinx U.S. citizens. A record number of Americans applied for British citizenship between January and March, according the U.K. government. Some Canadian lawyers also noticed an uptick in Americans seeking Canadian citizenship in recent months, with many citing political uncertainty in the U.S. as a motivating factor.

In the wake of ICE raids in L.A., artists band together for immigrants

Curator Love, Este Hogar no le abre la puerta a I.C.E.

(Amelia Tabullo)

De Los contributing writer Sarah Quiñones Wolfson wrote about how members of the L.A. arts community are using their work to raise funds to support immigrants in the city.

Quiñones Wolfson spoke with a slew of artists whose work depicts and benefits the L.A.’s vibrant and vital immigrant populations. Included in the article are striking photos of the previously mentioned artwork with a message.

In the piece, Erika Hirugami — an academic curator and founder of the immigrant-focused art enterprise CuratorLove — introduced me to the inclusive phrase “undocplus” (also spelled “undoc+”) which refers to formerly or currently undocumented people, emphasizing a shared lived experience.

Stories we read this week that we think you should read

Stories we read this week that we think you should read
Unless otherwise noted, all stories in this section are from the L.A. Times.

Immigration and the border

Politics

Climate

Education

Arts and Entertainment

California-specific agony

(Jackie Rivera / For The Times; Martina Ibáñez-Baldor / Los Angeles Times)

Alyssa Thompson scored in the 86th minute and Angel City snapped an eight-game winless streak with a 1-0 victory over the Orlando Pride on Thursday night at BMO Stadium.

Angel City (5-7-5) had not won a match since May 9. Thompson’s goal was her sixth of the season, second most on the team.

It was Alex Straus’ first win as Angel City coach and the franchise’s first win against the Pride since 2023.

“It felt really good. I feel like I haven’t had a goal in a while,” Thompson said. “So being able to get those goals that I’ve been working on, and just the positions that I’ve been in, in training. It was really nice.”

Orlando (8-5-4) is winless in its last five matches. The Pride were without top scorer Barbra Banda, who injured her hip in the team’s scoreless draw with the Kansas City Current last week. Banda has eight goals this season.

Orlando announced earlier Thursday that they had signed Lizbeth Ovalle from Mexico’s Tigres UANL for a record transfer fee. Ovalle, known as Jacquie, is set to play in the Liga MX Femenil All-Star game this weekend before joining the Pride.

Angel City welcomed back defender Ali Riley, who was available on the bench for the match. Riley was placed on the season-ending injury list midway through the 2024 season because of a chronic leg injury that threatened her career.

The lead singer of the regional Mexican band Enigma Norteño, Ernesto Barajas, was shot and killed on Tuesday in the municipality of Zapopan in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, according to ABC 7.

The singer was killed by two individuals riding a motorcycle, according to authorities. The prosecutor’s office of the state of Jalisco has already opened an investigation into the murder, according to ABC 7.

The band from Sinaloa is known for its “viral drug ballads,” a musical style known to glorify organized crime. Enigma Norteño has dedicated its songs to members of the Jalisco Nueva Generacion and Sinaloa cartels. The genre has been banned by a third of the states in Mexico.

The killing of Barajas comes three months after the dead bodies of five members of the Mexican regional band Fugitivo were found in the northern city of Reynosa.

In July, the Council of the Judiciary of the State of Jalisco agreed to drop the criminal case against the Mexican regional band Los Alegres Del Barranco. The band came under investigation after it displayed a photograph of a leader of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación during a show.

In April, the Mexican government announced a music contest to encourage Mexican artists to create music that does not glorify a violent lifestyle. The competition was created to encourage musicians to write songs about love, heartbreak and peace, according to Billboard.

“While the contest won’t solve this issue overnight, and we’re not neglecting the underlying causes — for that, there’s a whole national security program — we felt it was important to create creative spaces through culture for Mexican and Mexican-American youth who are passionate about music,” Claudia Curiel de Icaza, secretary of culture for Mexico, told Billboard Español.

Authorities from the state of Jalisco did not respond to a request for a comment in time for publication.

Mayor Clara Brugada says ‘government will not rest’ until justice is served for the killing of two municipal officials.

Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada has announced that authorities arrested 13 people for their alleged roles in the May attack that killed two high-ranking officials in the Mexican capital.

Brugada did not identify the suspects on Wednesday, but she said three were involved directly in the shooting.

“In this operation, 13 people were arrested, including three people who directly participated in the murder, and others related to the logistical preparation of the event,” she told reporters.

The daytime shooting of two of Brugada’s top aides by gunmen on motorbikes shocked the city, seen as a relative pocket of safety compared to the rest of the country.

The victims were Brugada’s personal secretary Ximena Guzman and adviser Jose Munoz.

“In memory of our colleagues and out of respect for their families and friends, this government will not rest until the truth is known and justice is served,” the mayor said in a social media post on Wednesday.

After the shooting, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, a Brugada ally who previously served as the capital’s mayor, vowed that her government would ensure that “justice is served”.

“We express our solidarity and support for the families of these two individuals who have worked in our movement for a long time,” Sheinbaum said in May.

“We know them, we stand with their families, and we will give her [Brugada] all the support the city needs from the Mexican government.”

For decades, Mexico has been struggling with high crime rates and murders, including violence against political and security officials as well as journalists.

In 2020, Mexico City’s security chief, Omar Garcia Harfuch, survived an ambush by gunmen that killed two of his bodyguards and a bystander.

Shortly after taking office last year, Sheinbaum’s administration announced a security strategy that focused on boosting intelligence gathering, strengthening the National Guard police and addressing root causes, including poverty.

Earlier this month, the United States – which has been struggling with its own crime rates – issued a travel advisory for Mexico, warning of security risks.

“Many violent crimes take place in Mexico. They include homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery,” the US State Department said. “There is a risk of terrorist violence, including terrorist attacks and other activity in Mexico.”

MEXICO CITY — Julio César Chávez Jr., whose high-profile boxing career was marred by substance abuse and other struggles and never approached the heights of his legendary father, was in Mexican custody Tuesday after being deported from the United States.

His expulsion had been expected since July, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him outside his Studio City home and accused him of making “fraudulent statements” on his application to become a U.S. permanent resident.

In Mexico, Chávez, 39, faces charges of organized crime affiliation and arms trafficking, Mexican authorities say.

He is the son of Julio César Chávez — widely regarded as Mexico’s greatest boxer — and spent his career in the shadow of his fabled father.

Boxers Julio César Chávez, right, and his son Julio César Chávez Jr., during a news conference in Los Angeles in May.

(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

His father both supported his troubled son and chastised his namesake, whose struggles included substance abuse, legal troubles and challenges in making weight for his bouts.

Despite his highly publicized problems, Chávez won the World Boxing Council middleweight title in 2011 before losing the belt the following year.

Chávez was turned over to Mexican law enforcement authorities at the Arizona border and was being held Tuesday in a federal lockup in Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora state, authorities here said.

During her regular morning news conference, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that the boxer was in Mexican custody.

Days before his July arrest in Studio City, Chávez faced off in Anaheim for his last bout — against Jake Paul, the influencer-turned-pugilist. Chávez lost the fight.

When he was arrested in July, U.S. authorities labeled Chávez an “affiliate” of the Sinaloa cartel, which is one of Mexico’s largest — and most lethal — drug-trafficking syndicates.

Jake Paul, right, and Julio César Chávez Jr., left, exchange punches during their cruiserweight bout in Anaheim on June 28.

(Anadolu / Anadolu via Getty Images)

Chávez has faced criticism over alleged associations with cartel figures, including Ovidio Guzmán, a son of infamous drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, now serving a life sentence in a U.S prison for his leadership role in the Sinaloa cartel. Ovidio Guzmán recently pleaded guilty to drug-trafficking and other charges in federal court in Chicago and is reported to be cooperating with U.S. prosecutors.

Controversies have long overshadowed the career of Chávez.

Chávez served 13 days in jail for a 2012 drunk-driving conviction in Los Angeles County and was arrested by Los Angeles police in January 2024 on gun charges. According to his attorney, Michael Goldstein, a court adjudicating the gun case granted Chávez a “mental health diversion,” which, in some cases, can lead to dismissal of criminal charges.

“I’m confident that the issues in Mexico will be cleared up, and he’ll be able to continue with his mental health diversion” in California, Goldstein said.

A lingering question in the case is why Chávez was apparently allowed to travel freely between the United States and Mexico on several occasions despite a Mexican arrest warrant issued against him in March 2023.

On Jan. 4, 2025, according to the Department of Homeland Security, Chávez reentered the United States from Tijuana into San Diego via the San Ysidro port of entry. He was permitted in despite the pending Mexican arrest warrant and a U.S. determination just a few weeks earlier that Chávez represented “an egregious public safety threat,” the DHS stated in a July 3 news release revealing the boxer’s detention.

Homeland Security said that the Biden administration — which was still in charge at the time of Chávez’s January entry — had determined that the boxer “was not an immigration enforcement priority.”

While in training for the Paul match, Chávez spoke out publicly against President Trump’s ramped-up deportation agenda, which has sparked protests and denunciations across California. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he accused the administration of “attacking” Latinos.

Chávez told The Times: “I wouldn’t want to be deported.”

McDonnell reported from Mexico City and El Reda from Los Angeles. Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has denied reports that her government is teaming up with the United States for a “major new initiative” to combat drug-trafficking cartels.

In her Tuesday morning news conference, Sheinbaum addressed the initiative, dubbed “Project Portero”, which was touted in the US as an effort to “strengthen collaboration between the United States and Mexico”.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had unveiled the initiative only one day prior.

“I want to clarify something. The DEA put out a statement yesterday saying that there is an agreement with the Mexican government for an operation called Portero,” Sheinbaum said.

“There is no agreement with the DEA. The DEA puts out this statement, based on what we don’t know. We have not reached any agreement; none of the security institutions [have] with the DEA.”

Sheinbaum emphasised that only her administration, not individual government agencies, would be announcing such an agreement on behalf of Mexico.

She also emphasised that the DEA needed to follow established protocols for making joint announcements.

Project Portero is part of an ongoing push under US President Donald Trump to stamp out cross-border drug trafficking and aggressively pursue the cartels and criminal networks that profit from such trade.

In its statement on Monday, the DEA called Project Portero its “flagship operation” aimed at shutting down drug-smuggling corridors along the border.

It described its partnership with Mexico as “a multi-week training and collaboration program” that would bring Mexican investigators together with US enforcement officials at an intelligence site on the southwest border.

Part of their task, the statement said, was to “identify joint targets” for the two countries to pursue.

“Project Portero and this new training program show how we will fight — by planning and operating side by side with our Mexican partners,” DEA administrator Terrance Cole said in the statement

“This is a bold first step in a new era of cross-border enforcement.”

But Sheinbaum said no such bilateral action was planned, though she speculated that the DEA might be referring to a small training exercise involving four Mexican police officers.

“The only thing we have is a group of police officers from the Secretariat of Citizen Security who were conducting a workshop in Texas,” she explained.

She did, however, point out that her government was actively working with the Trump administration to cement a border security agreement, based on mutual acknowledgements of sovereignty and respectful coordination.

Since taking office for a second term in January, Trump has repeatedly pressured the Sheinbaum government to stem the flow of immigrants and drugs across their countries’ shared border.

That includes through the threat of tariffs, a kind of tax imposed on imports. In late July, Trump announced he would keep tariffs on Mexican products at their current rate for 90 days.

Previously, he had threatened to hike the tariff rate to 30 percent on the basis that fentanyl was still reaching US soil.

“Mexico still has not stopped the Cartels who are trying to turn all of North America into a Narco-Trafficking Playground,” Trump wrote in a letter to Sheinbaum earlier that month.

Even with the 90-day pause, Mexico still faces a 25-percent tax — which Trump calls a “fentanyl tariff” — on all products that do not fall under the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement (USMCA).

Still, Trump has expressed warmth towards Sheinbaum, and the Mexican leader has largely avoided public confrontations with the US since taking office in October 2024.

Recently, Sheinbaum’s government coordinated with Trump’s to transfer 26 high-profile drug-trafficking suspects to the US for prosecution.

In February, she made a similar deal, sending 29 alleged cartel leaders from Mexican prisons to the US shortly before Trump threatened to impose tariffs on her country’s imports. It was Mexico’s largest prisoner transfer to the US in years.

But Sheinbaum has also faced scrutiny over her handling of Trump’s aggressive foreign policy platform.

Earlier this month, for instance, Trump’s State Department issued travel warnings for 30 of Mexico’s 32 states, warning Americans of “terrorist” activities in those areas.

Trump has also designated multiple Latin American criminal groups as “foreign terrorist organisations”, and he reportedly signed an order authorising military action to combat them.

Critics fear that order could translate into a military incursion on Mexican soil. But Sheinbaum has repeatedly downplayed those concerns, saying, “There will be no invasion of Mexico.”

Still, she has nevertheless asserted that any unauthorised US action on Mexican land would be considered a violation of her country’s sovereignty.

Son of a legendary former world champion boxer, Julio Cesar Chavez is deported by the US, facing charges of arms trafficking and organised crime in Mexico.

Former champion boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr has been detained in Mexico after being deported by the United States to face drug trafficking-related charges, Mexican authorities said.

Chavez, the son of legendary boxer Julio Cesar Chavez, was handed over at midday on Monday and transferred to a prison in Mexico’s northwest Sonora state, according to information published Tuesday on the country’s National Detention Registry.

“He was deported,” President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters, adding that there was an arrest warrant for him in Mexico.

She previously said there was a warrant for his arrest for charges of arms trafficking and organised crime, and that prosecutors were working on the case.

The Mexican attorney general’s office declined to comment.

Chavez Jr, the son of a legendary former world champion boxer, Julio Cesar Chavez, was detained by US immigration authorities shortly after losing in a sold-out match to American influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul.

Mexican prosecutors allege he acted as a henchman for the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, which Washington designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” earlier this year.

Chavez Jr’s lawyer and family have rejected the accusations.

Mexico’s national registry showed that the boxer was arrested at a checkpoint in the Mexican border city of Nogales at 11:53am (18:53 GMT) and transferred to a federal institution in Sonora’s capital of Hermosillo. Chavez Jr was wearing a black hoodie and red sneakers, it said.

Chavez Jr won the World Boxing Council middleweight championship in 2011, but lost the title the following year.

His career has been overshadowed by controversies, including a suspension after testing positive for a banned substance in 2009, and a fine and suspension after testing positive for cannabis in 2013.

Her name was etched in the memory of millions thanks to her role as Gabrielle Solís in “Desperate Housewives,” a series that established Eva Longoria as one of the most influential Latina actresses in Hollywood.

She went on to become a producer, director, entrepreneur, activist and, in recent years, an investor in the world of sports, where she has earned the nickname “La Patrona” — or “The Boss” in English — which easily could be the title of a Mexican soap opera.

After more than two decades of credits and awards earned in the entertainment industry, Longoria has shifted her focus. Today, her role as “La Patrona” of Liga MX team Club Necaxa draws on her family’s roots, her passion for storytelling and her commitment to giving Mexico visibility in the world.

Her involvement was not limited to serving on Necaxa’s board of directors as a celebrity investor. From the beginning, she knew she wanted to tell a story. Inspired by Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds’ “Welcome to Wrexham” docuseries, she decided to produce the the docuseries “Necaxa,” which premiered on Aug. 7 on FX. Cameras take viewers behind the scenes, follow along on road trips and offer an intimate look at the soccer team.

Rob McElhenney, left, and Eva Longoria stand on the field at Estadio Victoria, Liga MX team Club Necaxa’s home stadium.

(HANDOUT / FX)

Few could have imagined a Mexican American actress would become the leading front office voice for a historic Mexican soccer club, whose home stadium — Estadio Victoria — is located in the city of Aguascalientes in north-central Mexico.

In 2021, Longoria joined a group of investors who acquired 50% ownership of the team. McElhenney, the actor best known for the TV show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” and Reynolds, who turned the mercenary Deadpool into one of the most beloved antiheroes in the Marvel universe, later joined the ownership group.

While restoring Necaxa to prominence in Liga MX was only a business and creative venture, it also had a deep personal component. Longoria grew up in Texas watching sports with her father, Enrique Longoria Jr.

“My dad can’t believe it. He doesn’t believe I’m ‘La Patrona,’” Longoria told L.A. Times en Español. “I’ll always be his little girl. … But I love sports because of my dad. My dad always watched the Dallas Cowboys, the Spurs, the Texas Rangers. … Every sport, I watched with him. I love sports because of the drama, the excitement, the ups and downs.”

In 2020, McElhenney and Reynolds acquired Wrexham AFC, a Welsh team that had been stuck in the National League — the fifth division of English soccer — since 2008. The team has steadily climbed the ranks to reach the Championship, just one step away from the top division, the Premier League.

Although promotion and relegation is no longer used in Liga MX, Longoria aspires to see Necaxa’s “Rayos” return to prominence in the Mexican soccer playoffs and is therefore seeking to mirror what her colleagues achieved with Wrexham AFC while flying the flag for her Mexican roots.

“This opportunity came from a group of investors who called me and asked if I wanted to be part of this project in the Mexican league. When they explained to me that the league has a huge audience, because there is so much beauty and talent coming out of Mexico, I decided to go for it,” said Longoria, who grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, but now primarily splits her time between homes in Mexico and Spain. “I invested in the Necaxa team because I saw a great opportunity, not only as a business venture, but also as a great way to showcase Mexico and the most passionate sport in this beautiful country, to put Mexico on the map.

“When I have the opportunity to put Mexico or Mexicans on the map, I will always do so. Whether I’m producing or directing, that’s my philosophy in storytelling. That’s why I wanted to do this with the docuseries because I knew there was a story there that we had to tell.”

Eva Longoria is “La Patrona,” which translates to “The Boss,” in ‘Necaxa’ on FX.

(HANDOUT / FX)

Despite her ambition and determination, her first visit to Aguascalientes was fraught with uncertainty.

“I was very anxious and afraid because I am a woman, I am Mexican American,” she said. “I didn’t know if they would welcome me with open arms, but the truth is that they have welcomed me with open arms and I have been impressed by the local support.”

Although filming the docuseries is as important as any of her other projects, her work also involves finding the formula to return Necaxa to the prominence it had in the 1990s when it won its only three championships in the first division.

Her power as an international star has allowed her enter the locker room, which is considered a sacred space in the world of soccer.

After watching her confidently enter spaces around the club, the players dubbed her “La Patrona.”

“It’s a lot to manage a soccer club, behind the scenes, behind the docuseries,” Longoria said. “We’re so lucky to have access to the locker rooms, to go home with them. For me, it’s very important to have everything in one series, because I want the world to see it all. It’s not just about points and games; you’re talking about real lives.”

Longoria has also become a bridge between cultures and markets. As co-owner and original investor in Angel City FC in the National Women’s Soccer League, she recognizes the differences between soccer in the United States and Mexico. That experience, coupled with her connection to McElhenney and Reynolds, has shaped a broader vision.

“Here in Necaxa, there’s a saying: ‘If there’s no suffering, it’s not Necaxa.’ I’m explaining this saying to them, because the fans have embraced the idea that you have to suffer to win,” she said. “Rob and Ryan know a little bit about this, and we wanted to explore that idea in the series.”

Diego González, Necaxa’s head of media relations, said Longoria’s arrival marked a turning point for the club.

“It’s something unexpected, something surprising to have something like this with Necaxa and Aguascalientes,” he said of the docuseries. “It’s seeing inside Club Necaxa. Getting to know not only the player, but the people, the city … lots of emotions, lots of feelings that represent what soccer is and how it’s lived in Necaxa.”

Opening the doors to the cameras was not easy, according to González, but Longoria’s presence made it possible.

“It’s something that is highly respected, that intimacy of the locker rooms, the training camps, the trips. The players had to get used to it, but the professionalism of the club and the production team helped. You’ll notice it in the series: it feels so natural because that’s how it was,” said González, whom the players call “Sheldon” because of his resemblance to the character Sheldon Cooper from the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory.”

He describes Longoria’s relationship with the team as close and genuine.

“When she arrived in Aguascalientes, she showed herself as she is, even nervous, but without wanting to impose anything,” González said. “That naturalness helped the players feel comfortable. You don’t know how to treat a superstar, but she gives you the confidence to approach her and talk about anything.”

The influence of Longoria, McElhenney and Reynolds has gone beyond the locker room. They have put Necaxa on the international map.

“The most visible thing is the international showcase they can give you,” González said. “Necaxa was already known for its soccer merits, but now you have fans of Rob, Ryan, Eva, even Wrexham. A whole range of important possibilities has opened up for us, and that’s thanks to them.”

This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.

José Antonio Rodríguez held a bouquet of flowers in his trembling hands.

It had been nearly a quarter of a century since he had left his family behind in Mexico to seek work in California. In all those years, he hadn’t seen his parents once.

They kept in touch as best they could, but letters took months to cross the border, and his father never was one for phone calls. Visits were impossible: José was undocumented, and his parents lacked visas to come to the U.S.

Now, after years of separation, they were about to be reunited. And José’s stomach was in knots.

He had been a young man of 20 when he left home, skinny and full of ambition. Now he was 44, thicker around the middle, his hair thinning at the temples.

Would his parents recognize him? Would he recognize them? What would they think of his life?

José had spent weeks preparing for this moment, cleaning his trailer in the Inland Empire from top to bottom and clearing the weeds from his yard. He bought new pillows to set on his bed, which he would give to his parents, taking the couch.

Finally, the moment was almost here.

Gerardo Villarreal Salazar, 70, left, is reunited with his grandson Alejandro Rojas, 17.

Leobardo Arellano, 39, left, and his father, José Manuel Arellano Cardona, 70, are reunited after 24 years.

Officials in Mexico’s Zacatecas state had helped his mother and father apply for documents that allow Mexican citizens to enter the U.S. for temporary visits as part of a novel program that brings elderly parents of undocumented workers to the United States. Many others had their visa applications rejected, but theirs were approved.

They had packed their suitcases to the brim with local sweets and traveled 24 hours by bus along with four other parents of U.S. immigrants. Any minute now, they would be pulling up at the East Los Angeles event hall where José waited along with other immigrants who hadn’t seen their families in decades.

José, who wore a gray polo shirt and new jeans, thought about all the time that had passed. The lonely nights during Christmas season, when he longed for the taste of his mother’s cooking. All the times he could have used his father’s advice.

His plan had been to stay in the U.S. a few years, save up some money and return home to begin his life.

But life doesn’t wait. Before he knew it, decades had passed and José had built community and a career in carpentry in California.

Juan Mascorro sings for the reunited families.

He sent tens of thousands of dollars to Mexico: to fund improvements on his parents’ house, to buy machines for the family butcher shop. He sent his contractor brother money to build a two-bedroom house where José hopes to retire one day.

His mother, who likes talking on the phone, kept him informed on all the doings in town. The construction of a new bridge. The marriages, births, deaths and divorces. The creep of violence as drug cartels brought their wars to Zacatecas.

And then one day, a near-tragedy. José’s father, jovial, strong, always cracking jokes, landed in the hospital with a heart that doctors said was failing. He languished there six months on the brink of death.

But he lived. And when he got out, he declared that he wanted to see his eldest son.

A framed artwork depicting the states of California and Zacatecas is a gift for families being reunited.

A full third of people born in Zacatecas live in the U.S. Migration is so common, the state has an agency tasked with attending to the needs of Zacatecanos living abroad. It has been helping elderly Mexicans get visas to visit family north of the border for years.

The state tried to get some 25 people visas this year. But the United States, now led by a president who has vilified immigrants, approved only six.

José had a childhood friend, Horacio Zapata, who also migrated to the U.S. and who hasn’t seen his father in 30 years. Horacio’s father also applied for a visa, but he didn’t make the cut.

Horacio was crestfallen. A few years back, his mother died in Mexico. He had spent his life working to help get her out of poverty, and then never had a chance to say goodbye. He often thought about what he would give to share one last hug with her. Everything. He would give everything.

He and his wife had come with José to offer moral support. He put his arm around his friend, whose voice shook with nerves.

Horacio Zapata, 48, hoped his father would be able to come to Los Angeles through the reunion program, but his visa request was denied.

East L.A. was normally bustling, filled with vendors hawking fruit, flowers and tacos. But on this hot August afternoon, as a car pulled up outside the event hall to deposit José’s parents and the other elderly travelers, the streets were eerily quiet.

Since federal agents had descended on California, apprehending gardeners, day laborers and car wash workers en masse, residents in immigrant-heavy pockets like this one had mostly stayed inside.

The thought crossed José’s mind: What if immigration agents raided the reunion event? But there was no way he was going to miss it.

Suddenly, the director of the Federation of Zacatecas Hometown Assns. of Southern California, which was hosting the reunion, asked José to rise. Slowly, his parents walked in.

Of course they recognized one another. His first thought: How small they both seemed.

José Antonio Rodríguez and his mother, Juana Contreras Sánchez, wipe tears from their eyes after being reunited.

José gathered his mother in an embrace. He handed her the flowers. And then he gripped his father tightly.

This is a miracle, his father whispered. He’d asked the Virgin for this.

His father, whose heart condition persists, was fatigued from the long journey. They all took seats. His father put his head down on the table and sobbed. José stared at the ground, sniffling, pulling up his shirt to wipe away tears.

A mariachi singer performed a few songs, too loudly. Plates of food appeared. José and his parents picked at it, mostly in silence.

At the next table, José Manuel Arellano Cardona, 70, addressed his middle-aged son as muchachito — little boy.

In the coming days, José and his parents would relax into one another’s company, go shopping, attend church. Most evenings, they would stay up past midnight talking.

José Antonio Rodríguez holds a bouquet of flowers for his mother and father.

Eventually, the parents would head back to Zacatecas because of the limit on their visas.

But for now, they were together, and eager to see José’s home. He took them by the arms as he guided them out into the California sun.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A failed political candidate was sentenced to 80 years in federal prison Wednesday for his convictions in a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

A jury convicted former Republican candidate Solomon Peña earlier this year of conspiracy, weapons and other charges in the shootings in December 2022 and January 2023 on the homes of four Democratic officials in Albuquerque, including the current state House speaker.

Prosecutors, who had sought a 90-year sentence, said Peña has shown no remorse and had hoped to cause political change by terrorizing people who held contrary views to him into being too afraid to take part in political life.

Peña’s lawyers had sought a 60-year sentence, saying their client maintains that he is innocent of the charges. They have said Peña was not involved in the shootings and that prosecutors were relying on the testimony of two men who bear responsibility and accepted plea agreements in exchange for leniency.

“Today was a necessary step toward Mr. Peña’s continued fight to prove his innocence,” said Nicholas Hart, one of Peña’s attorneys. “He looks forward to the opportunity to appeal, where serious issues about the propriety of this prosecution will be addressed.”

The attacks took place as threats and acts of intimidation against election workers and public officials surged across the country after President Donald Trump and his allies called into question the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Prosecutors said Peña resorted to violence in the belief that a “rigged” election had robbed him of victory in his bid to serve in the state Legislature.

The shootings targeted the homes of officials including two county commissioners after their certification of the 2022 election, in which Peña lost by nearly 50 percentage points. No one was injured, but in one case bullets passed through the bedroom of a state senator’s 10-year-old daughter.

Two other men who had acknowledged helping Peña with the attacks had previously pleaded guilty to federal charges and received yearslong prison sentences.

MEXICO CITY — The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions Wednesday on more than a dozen Mexican companies and four people it says worked with a powerful drug trafficking cartel to scam elderly Americans in a multimillion-dollar timeshare fraud.

The network of 13 businesses in areas near the seaside tourist destination of Puerto Vallarta were accused of working with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a group designated by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist organization.

In a scheme dating back to 2012, four cartel associates are accused of defrauding American citizens of their life savings through elaborate rental and resale schemes, according to a Treasury statement. In the span of six months, officials said they were able to document $23.1 million sent from mostly people in the U.S. to scammers in Mexico.

The sanctions imposed by the administration of President Trump would prohibit Americans from doing business with the alleged cartel associates and block any of their assets in the U.S.

“We will continue our effort to completely eradicate the cartels’ ability to generate revenue, including their efforts to prey on elderly Americans through timeshare fraud,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

In past years, the administration of then-President Biden also sanctioned associates and accountants related to such schemes.

The Wednesday announcement was made amid an ongoing effort by the Trump administration and the Mexican government to crack down on cartels and their diverse sources of income.

The U.S. Treasury Department has slapped sanctions on a variety of people from a Mexican rapper who it accused of laundering cartel money to Mexican banks facilitating money transfers in sales of precursor chemicals used to produce fentanyl.

The announcement also came one day after Mexico sent 26 high-ranking cartel figures to the U.S. in the latest major deal with the Trump administration as Mexico tries to avoid threatened tariffs.

Aug. 13 (UPI) — A stolen manuscript written by notorious Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortés in 1527 has been returned to the Mexican government, the FBI announced on Wednesday.

The manuscript was written on parchment and signed by Cortés with an indicated date of Feb. 20, 1527.

“This is an original manuscript page that was actually signed by Hernan Cortez,” FBI special agent Jessica Dittmer said in a news release.

The manuscript “outlines the payment of pesos of common gold for expenses in preparation for discovery of the spice lands,” Dittmer said.

“It gives a lot of flavor as to the planning and preparation for uncharted territory back then,” she added.

Dittmer is a member of the FBI’s Art Crime Team and part of the joint FBI-New York Police Department Major Theft Task Force.

The document likely was stolen sometime between 1985 and October 1993, but investigators recovered and returned it to the Mexican government, according to the FBI.

The document contains a wax numbering that archivists used between 1985 and 1986, which helped investigators to narrow the timeline for its theft.

It was part of a larger collection, which caretakers with Mexico’s national archives in October 1993 discovered was missing 15 pages, including the just-returned manuscript.

Mexican authorities last year sought the FBI’s help in recovering the manuscript.

Investigators with the FBI, NYPD and the office of the U.S. Attorney for Southern New York determined the document was located within the continental United States and tracked down its location.

The investigative team “worked through additional logistical steps to ensure that all the stakeholders formerly and currently in possession of the manuscript page received all necessary information to prepare for our seizure of the document,” Dittmer said.

Those steps included having all former and current stakeholders sign away their claims to the document, which enabled the FBI to take legal possession, verify its authenticity and return it to its rightful owners in Mexico.

The document has exchanged many hands since it went missing, so no charges will be filed against past stakeholders, according to the FBI.

It’s the second such document created by Cortés that the FBI has located and returned to Mexico.

The bureau in July 2023 returned a letter that details the purchase of rose sugar that Cortés wrote in the 16th century.

Cortés is a significant and controversial historical figure who explored Central America and defeated the Aztec empire leader Montezuma, resulting in Spanish King Charles I making Cortés the governor of New Spain (Mexico) in 1522.

Rock musician Neil Young in 1975 wrote and recorded a song about the conquistador, “Cortez the Killer,” with his band, Crazy Horse. The song remains a staple of Young’s live performances.