The situation at the southern border could become more dangerous after leaders of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Mexico instructed their drug traffickers to open fire on U.S. Border Patrol agents stationed in the area.
This alarming revelation was shared in an internal federal memo obtained by NewsNation. An officer safety report based on information from the FBI warned that CJNG operatives in Mexico have been directed to shoot across the international border at Border Patrol personnel. The cartel is reportedly focusing primarily on agents in the San Diego, California sector as potential targets.
The Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación — better known as CJNG — isn’t some fringe gang. It’s one of Mexico’s most powerful and ruthless cartels, deeply entrenched in drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, and organized violence. The group has earned its reputation through military-style operations and shock-and-awe brutality designed to dominate territory and intimidate rivals.
Now, according to an internal memo, CJNG operatives have allegedly been instructed to position themselves on the Mexican side of the border and open fire on U.S. Border Patrol agents conducting enforcement operations. The alert indicates the cartel may even be willing to carry out attacks outside its traditional strongholds — not necessarily to directly confront the United States, but to manipulate U.S. authorities into cracking down on rival cartels.
That’s not just criminality. That’s strategic escalation.
Retired Border Patrol sector chief Chris Klein told NewsNation that the threat appears tied to ongoing inter-cartel conflict, with groups attempting to redirect pressure onto their competitors. In other words, this may be less about declaring war on the U.S. and more about weaponizing U.S. enforcement for cartel advantage.
This isn’t hypothetical. There have already been direct clashes between Mexican cartels and U.S. Border Patrol.
In January 2025, cartel gunmen exchanged fire with agents near Fronton, Texas, as a group of illegal immigrants attempted to cross through the Rio Grande corridor, according to Fox 26 Houston. Cartel members reportedly opened fire first. Agents returned fire. Thankfully, no one was injured — but the message was unmistakable.
And that wasn’t an isolated incident. Fox News has reported additional confrontations as immigration enforcement intensified along the southern border. The more pressure applied, the more aggressive cartel tactics appear to become.
Then came the October 2025 bulletin from the Department of Homeland Security, which elevated the threat level even further. According to reporting by ABC News, Mexican drug cartels instituted a structured bounty program targeting American immigration officers.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the cartels are “waging an organized campaign of terror” against federal immigration authorities, but that the United States “will not back down from these threats.”