(CNSNews.com) - The White House on Tuesday addressed concerns that Mexican cartels responsible for the murder of two kidnapped Americans in Mexico could cross the southern border and enter the United States.

As CNSNews.com reported, four Americans were kidnapped and the bodies of two of them were found, according to Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal. The other two Americans were found alive, although one of them was injured. They were all kidnapped after crossing into Matamoros in Tamaulipas, Mexico, which has a level four State Department travel advisory warning.

“I should say this administration from day one has made sure as it relates to the safety, I know some folks have asked if we’re concerned about these individuals actually coming across the border and coming into the U.S., so DHS screens and vets every individual encountered at the border,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked whether the U.S. needs to do more to tackle organized crime in Mexico.

“The president has secured record levels of funding for border security and management, including 23,000 border officials, which is a historic amount of border officials to help with the security process at the border, and we have stepped up coordination with government of Mexico to ensure security along our shared border,” the press secretary said.

“As you know, the president was recently in Mexico City. He met with — with AMLO to talk — that was one of the conversations that were had, that was part of the agenda, and so we’re going to continue to do that — those coordination, and — and we’re going to continue to do everything that we can to secure the border,” she said.

“These individuals were reportedly going across the border to Mexico for medical care. There are a lot of Americans who cross the southern border for medical care or for prescription drugs. What is the advice to those individuals? Should they avoid doing that?” a reporter asked.
 
“So I’m not going to speak specifically to — I know — I know it’s ongoing. I know there’s a lot of comments out there as to what these four individuals were going to do. So I would say the federal law enforcement has been in touch — has been, you know, doing — leading this investigation — clearly in touch with family members, and so I’m just going to be really careful on commenting why they were crossing the border,” the press secretary said, citing privacy concerns.

“But, again, I just laid out moments ago, when Michael was asking me the question about the Americans in Mexico or thinking about traveling to Mexico: The State Department puts out these alerts, has been — has tried — tries very hard to communicate what’s going on — this — their own safety — for their own safety in certain countries,” she said.

“And I would — I would make sure that if Americans are thinking about traveling to Mexico, that they certainly heed the call from the State Department. This particular area, as I just mentioned, is at Level 4, and so folks need to be really careful,” Jean-Pierre said.