The State Department has launched a review of all 53 Mexican consulates in the United States, a U.S. official told CBS News, a process that could prompt Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider closing some offices. The assessment comes as bilateral tensions between Washington and Mexico have increased over security cooperation and cartel-related violence.
Officials say the review follows heightened friction after the deaths last month of two Americans — later confirmed by CBS News to have been CIA personnel — who were killed alongside two Mexican investigators when their vehicle crashed during an operation targeting suspected drug laboratories in northern Mexico.
A State Department spokesperson described the review as part of a broader effort to align U.S. diplomatic activity with the Trump administration’s priorities. Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary for global public affairs, said the department “regularly evaluates all aspects of American foreign relations to ensure they support the President’s America First agenda and advance U.S. interests.”
Mexico operates the largest foreign consular network in the United States, with offices that provide documentation and legal assistance to millions of Mexican nationals living across the country. The consulates are concentrated in border states and cities with large Mexican-American populations, including California, Texas and Arizona.
Observers note that closures of foreign consulates in the U.S. have typically been associated with deteriorating ties rather than routine diplomatic reorganization. Past examples include the Trump administration’s 2020 order to close China’s consulate in Houston amid concerns about espionage and intellectual property theft, and the 2017 ordering of several Russian diplomatic facilities, including a consulate in San Francisco, after reciprocal expulsions.
The recent deaths of the two U.S. officials intensified diplomatic strain. U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson announced on X on April 19 that two embassy staff members had died. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum publicly suggested the U.S. agents may have lacked federal authorization to operate on Mexican soil and demanded explanations from the U.S. government, prompting a public dispute between the capitals.
Tensions escalated further when the United States filed drug trafficking and weapons charges against several high-profile Mexican figures and submitted multiple extradition requests, including one for Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya. Mexico’s foreign ministry has asked Washington’s Justice Department to provide the evidence supporting those allegations; President Sheinbaum said Mexico’s Attorney General would investigate if credible proof is produced.
Rocha has denied the accusations and announced he would temporarily step down from office to focus on his defense and cooperate with Mexican authorities as the case moves forward. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico has said that combating corruption and transnational organized crime is a joint priority, and while it would not comment on specific charges, it emphasized that corruption enabling organized crime “will be investigated and prosecuted where U.S. jurisdiction applies.”
The diplomatic row unfolds against an expanded CIA counternarcotics effort under Director John Ratcliffe, who has pursued deeper intelligence sharing and training with Mexican anti-drug units and approved surveillance drone flights over Mexico aimed at cartel operations. That increased U.S. role has prompted debate in Mexico about national sovereignty and the proper terms of security cooperation, especially after President Trump repeatedly suggested the U.S. might act unilaterally against cartels.
The CIA declined to comment for this report. CBS News has reached out to the Mexican embassy in Washington for its response.
Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.