The U.S. State Department issued a new Mexico Travel Advisory this week, encouraging Americans to avoid traveling to several areas across the nation.
The travel advisory lists four different levels of caution Americans should adhere to, which include "Do Not Travel To," "Reconsider Travel To," "Exercise Increased Caution When Traveling To," and "Exercise Normal Precautions When Traveling To."
The updated travel advisory comes as crime has continued to increase in several Mexican states, the State Department said.
"Violent crime-such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery-is widespread and common in Mexico. The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico, as travel by U.S. government employees to certain areas is prohibited or restricted," the travel advisory said.
The State Department's highest travel advisory level "Do Not Travel To" lists six Mexican states:
According to the State Department, these six states should be avoided due to crime and kidnapping.
For Colima, the State Department said, "Violent crime and gang activity are widespread. Most homicides are targeted assassinations against members of criminal organizations. ?Shooting incidents between criminal groups have injured or killed bystanders."
Seven other Mexican states are under the State Department's second-highest level of advisory, which urges Americans to reconsider travel:
Several other Mexican states are under the two lower travel advisory levels created by the State Department. A full list of the states under the different levels can be found here.
The travel advisory also urges caution for U.S. government employees traveling to Mexico.
"U.S. government employees may not travel between cities after dark, may not hail taxis on the street, and must rely on dispatched vehicles, including app-based services like Uber, and regulated taxi stands. U.S. government employees should avoid traveling alone, especially in remote areas," the advisory said.
Following the travel advisory U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar issued a statement saying, "Through the Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communities, we reaffirmed our commitment to work together to address major security issues affecting our nations, including the challenges of fentanyl, arms trafficking, and human smuggling, and to reduce levels of drug abuse and addiction."
Salazar continued, "We committed to deepen our cooperation to combat transnational criminal organizations that foment violence in both our countries.? We reaffirmed the robust operational efforts between law enforcement agencies to address these paramount security efforts."
Newsweek reached out to the State Department for further comment.
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