Senate Clears 28 U.S. Navy SEALs to Enter Mexico for Six-Month Training Program

Overview

• The Senate voted to authorize the entry of 28 members of U.S. Navy SEAL Team 4 to carry out a training program called Evento SOF 19 at two Mexican naval facilities.
• The program will train 87 Mexican service members from naval special-operations and intelligence units in close-quarters combat, tactical medicine, urban patrols, explosive detection, sniping and maritime boarding and interdiction.
• Logistics in the presidential request specify the SEALs and their organic weapons, ammunition and tactical gear would arrive on a U.S. Air Force C-130 to La Paz and operate at Donato Guerra (Estado de México) and Puerto Cortés (Isla Margarita, BCS).
• The plan sets a year-end pause when 24 U.S. personnel would return to the United States and four would remain to guard equipment, with the full group returning after the break to resume training.
• Coverage differs on timing and process: some outlets reported the request was under review in the Senate’s Comisión de Marina, while others said the full Senate approved the measure quickly, a split that highlights likely public debate over constitutional authority, weapons on Mexican soil and the scope of bilateral security cooperation.