Since Donald Trump took office, US and Mexican officials have said that Mexico has tried to improve cooperation with its top trade partner on security, immigration, and foreign policy, hoping to convince the US president to take a softer stance on the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).
In 2003, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, Mexico agreed to place Mexican security agents on certain flights, but said it would never allow US officials on board its commercial airlines, let alone armed.
However, in a January 18 meeting in Mexico’s foreign ministry, officials from both countries agreed to “study the convenience of negotiating an agreement for the deployment of Federal Air Marshals on commercial flights,” according to the official Mexican document.
US Federal Air Marshal Service spokesman Thomas Kelly declined to answer questions on the proposed agreement, but said air marshals “are armed Federal Law Enforcement Officers with the mission of in-flight protection of US-flagged aircraft, crew members and passengers.”
In a statement, Mexico’s foreign ministry confirmed that the government is evaluating the plan’s potential operational and security benefits but added that no agreement has yet been reached.
A Mexican official with knowledge of the plan said the hardest part of the negotiations would centre on allowing US officials to carry arms, given that the use of weapons by foreigners in Mexico is sensitive and tightly regulated.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) places sharp-shooters on domestic and international commercial flights to and from the United States to prevent militant attacks.
The Mexican official said it was still to be decided if the air marshals would fly on just US-bound flights, Mexico-bound flights, or both. There is no set date for when the agreement might be struck, or come into effect, the official said.