HIDALGO, Texas (AP) – It’s been years since Harry and Audrey Kelley took the two-mile trip across the Rio Grande to Reynosa, Mexico.

Alarmed by the headlines about Mexican drug war murders, tales of corrupt officers robbing tourists and dire warnings from the U.S. government, the two retirees from Kansas stay put at the mobile home resort in Hidalgo where they spend their winters.

“I wish I could be more at ease,” said Audrey Kelley, 75. “But it’s a little iffy right now.”

Mexican officials are trying to quell fears among U.S. residents like the Kelleys, who are crucial to the border economy, but things are so bad that U.S. consuls have issued advisories against travel to Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo.

Twenty-two Americans recently were kidnapped in Nuevo Laredo, which is across the border from Laredo, Texas, and several turned up dead. Other dangers in border towns include reports of more than a dozen killings and assaults with machine guns and grenades. And that’s just since August.

The Reynosa advisory was issued in September after reports of police harassment and cash machine robberies. Police allegedly forced U.S. drivers to go to dark, remote places or took them to ATMs and told them to hand over cash “fines” or face jail time.

“Because Mexican authorities are saying this is a drug war brewing, the U.S. consulate wants to wait a little while longer before we consider softening our caution,” said John Naland, the consul for the state of Tamaulipas.

But the new mayor of Reynosa, Francisco Javier Garcia Cabeza de Vaca, disagreed and held a news conference Wednesday in the border city of McAllen, Texas, to tell Americans they are safe in Mexico.

“Please worry, those of you who aren’t up to any good, but it has nothing to do with the normal, common citizens,” he said.

The new mayor boasted that since he took office Jan. 1 he’s gotten rid of dishonest officers and established two 24-hour toll-free numbers for complaints.

“The way the police have been working with people, that has changed,” he said. “No more corruption. No more asking for money.”

The peddlers, restaurateurs and others who depend on tourists from the United States and Canada are hoping the message works.

Standing idly outside his store full of traditional clothing and handmade crafts from throughout Mexico, Jose de Jesus Campos, 66, said he is optimistic about his five-year-old business for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Heightened border security after the attacks backed vehicles up for miles at the border, keeping customers away.

“Business has been very low,” Jesus Campos said, shaking his head. “But we are hopeful because there are new authorities, new representatives. It’s been a little better already.”

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