All Quiet at the Border Despite Violent Crime Rise in the U.S.

Reported violent crime in the United States rose in 2020 for the first time in four years, but violent crime rates in 11 of the largest communities along the U.S.-Mexico border stayed below the national average, reports Axios. An Axios analysis using FBI data and the 2020 census found 11 border communities had a violent crime rate of 340.2 per 100,000 residents, around 15 percent lower than the national average of 398.5.

Also, in the 11 communities from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas, taken together, the average murder rate was 4.1 per 100,000 residents — well below the FBI’s reported national average of 6.5. According to FBI crime data, 10 of the 11 U.S. border communities maintained low rates of violent crime over the last five years. However, despite the contrasts, the U.S. State Department during the summer issued an advisory cautioning U.S. citizens against travel to the Mexican state of Tamaulipas along the U.S. border due to high crime and kidnapping. Ciudad Juárez, the Mexican city that borders El Paso, also has seen a jump in violence due to fighting among cartels and gangs. Meanwhile, Yuma, Arizona, a farming community near the California state line, was the only border community with a violent crime rate near 500 and a murder rate approaching twice the national average