Safe Mexican Border Towns to visit? (El Paso, Laredo: pharmacies, live, restaurants)

[stargazer]

Since my inlaws are keeping our kids overnight in Donna, they want to take the kids over the border to mexico.

I just saw a report on TV that showed Matamoras as a very unsafe place to visit due to the drug smugglers and the drug wars happening... I don't want my kids going over the border to Matamoras but aren't there any relatively safe small border towns that can be visited?

[teatime]

If they're in Donna, Nuevo Progreso would be a much safer alternative close by if they really want to take the kids across. You'd best check on border crossing requirements, though. They're requiring passports now. I know there was a delay in implementation because of a backlog but it may be fully in effect now. I just had friends visit me from Canada and they needed passports to come.

I wouldn't recommend Matamoros. Too much potential for violence and overall weirdness.

[Muhnay]

Originally Posted by stargazer

Since my inlaws are keeping our kids overnight in Donna, they want to take the kids to over the border to mexico.

I just saw a report on TV that showed Matamoras as a very unsafe place to visit due to the drug smugglers and the drug wars happening... I don't want my kids going over the border to Matamoras but aren't there any relatively safe small border towns that can be visited?

There are plenty.. all of them are along the US Canadian border.. good luck, and enjoy your visit to the US Border. As for the Mexican one.. stay away.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by stargazer

Since my inlaws are keeping our kids overnight in Donna, they want to take the kids over the border to mexico.

I just saw a report on TV that showed Matamoras as a very unsafe place to visit due to the drug smugglers and the drug wars happening... I don't want my kids going over the border to Matamoras but aren't there any relatively safe small border towns that can be visited?

There is no way I'd take anyone's children or let anyone take mine across the border anywhere in Mexico. One has to be lacking in common sense to even suggest it. Who would want to go there anyway and for what logical reason? I agree with Muhnay......go north to the border.

[stargazer]

My inlaws are apart of a retirement community in Donna, Texas which is just a few miles from the border. They keep telling my husband that the small town they go to along with the other q tip's ( old white people with white hair and white tennis shoes) is safe... though like you, I have had my questions and that is why I am asking here.
They have lived down that way for about 3 years now.

[Bowie]

OP, you might find the current US State Department travel advisory for Mexico to be enlightening. I'll post an excerpt below the link, but you should read the whole thing before seriously considering a trip across the border.

MIG: Mexico Travel Alert

Violent criminal activity fueled by a war between criminal organizations struggling for control of the lucrative narcotics trade continues along the U.S.-Mexico border. Attacks are aimed primarily at members of drug trafficking organizations, Mexican police forces, criminal justice officials, and journalists. However, foreign visitors and residents, including Americans, have been among the victims of homicides and kidnappings in the border region.

[ecpaul]

I wouldnt take my little 4 year old across the border for any reason....if anything just because....however, I generally cross the border a few times during the year. My favorite bordertown would probably have to be Ciudad Acuna, across the border from Del Rio. The majority of the town close to the bridge is predominantly pharmacies, podiatrists, dentists, plastic surgeons, etc. that cater to senior citizens here in TX. It is not uncommon at all to literally see buses of old people scattered out from Granbury, Brady, Abilene, or Brownwood getting off in Acuna to have some dental work done or something else. Hwy 277 going into Acuna is not a major North - South corridor, so drug trafficking, although Im sure it exists there, isnt as prevalent as Matamoros, Laredo, or El Paso. Acuna is actually a neat little place as far as border towns go.

[Spree]

How old are your children?

Progresso is the safest and the most easily do-able. It's just one street of shopping and restaurants. They should go early enough to beat the heat and the crowds. It's easy to cross the border by car or on foot. Your kids WILL need a birth certificate or passport to get back to the US side of the bridge. I love Progresso and go every time I visit the valley.

[philster001]

I'd be hesitant to have them going to Mexico with out you with them.

[NOTAM]

traveling to most of the border towns in Mexico is restricted, off limits to active duty soldiers here....so if the US Army is going to make that kind of restriction, i would heed that warning too even though i'm not active duty