Thread: CBP to close cargo lanes at El Paso international bridge Saturdays

CBP to close cargo lanes at El Paso international bridge as it shifts officers to aid migrant processing

Vic Kolenc, Aaron Martinez and Aaron Montes, El Paso TimesPublished 11:21 a.m. MT April 3, 2019 | Updated 8:51 a.m. MT April 4, 2019

CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan says border region is at "breaking point" because of influx of migrants from Central America. Mark R Lambie, El Paso Times


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Bridge of the Americas is one of three international bridges in the area with commercial cargo crossing lanes.
• Cargo lanes at the Bridge of the Americas would be closed on Saturdays until further notice.
• The Ysleta port of entry will continue to be open eight hours to commercial traffic.

Commercial trucks crossing El Paso-area international bridges from Mexico are facing waits of up to 12 hours, which is causing production problems in Juárez factories and could slow manufacturing operations in the United States, manufacturing industry leaders say.

The problem could get worse on weekends because one of the bridges is being closed to commercial shipments on Saturdays as federal border agents are reassigned to help process Central American migrants seeking asylum in the United States.

“I’ve never seen this happen to this level,” said David Garcia, director of operations and a partner at Specialized Harness Products, an El Paso company that makes wire harnesses at its Juárez factory for construction and recreational vehicles.

Buy PhotoTrucks cross the Bridge of the Americas on Wednesday, April 3, 2019, with a possible border closure looming. The truck inspections will cease on Saturdays as resources are moved to deal with an influx in asylum seekers on the border. (Photo: Mark Lambie/El Paso Times)


Garcia said the company's trucks have waited up to 12 hours to cross the border since the Trump administration announced that it would reassign at least 750 Customs and Border Protection officers, moving them away from the ports of entry to help with processing migrant families. The latest decision to close the cargo lanes and the lot at the Bridge of the Americas will only make matters worse, he said.



“It’s ridiculous what this is doing to business and industry,” Garcia said.

Alan Russell, co-founder and CEO of El Paso's Tecma Group of Companies, which manages 35 maquiladoras, or factories, in Juárez said the reduction of open commercial lanes has left about half of the company's trucks waiting on the bridges overnight in the past two days.

Tecma truck drivers wait in line until the trucks can get across, Russell said. Sometimes that means, bringing food to the drivers, or bringing new drivers to relieve the ones who have been in line a long time, he said.

Tecma trucks have been waiting six to 12 hours to cross the bridges in the last two days compared to two to three hours during more normal operations, Russell said.

Not getting parts into the United States from about 300 factories in Juárez in a timely manner is likely costing the U.S. economy hundreds of millions of dollars in lost commerce, “if you measure commerce on a daily basis,” Russell estimated.

"This can go on for a little while,” but if it continues much longer, then auto plants and other manufacturers in the United States needing the parts from Mexico will have to shut down production lines, and that will have a “greater economic impact on the United States,” Russell said.

Slowdowns at ports of entry, proposed shutdown 'devastating'

In a trade information notice dated Wednesday, April 3, Beverly Good, El Paso port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, announced that cargo lanes at the Bridge of the Americas would be closed on Saturdays until further notice. The closures begin this weekend.

The federal government's notice pointed to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan's comments in El Paso last week.

During the news conference, McAleenan announced that CBP officerscurrently at the ports of entry would be reassigned to help with processing migrant families. The decision has led to longer wait times and concerns about security at the ports of entry.

BORDER SHUTDOWN: Possibility of Trump closing Mexican border has El Paso businesses, residents concerned

The reassignments and lane closures come as President Donald Trump threatens to close the border, drawing rebuke from Republican allies who say the move would be devastating to trade.

“Closing the border to legal commerce would be devastating to Texas," U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a statement. "Millions of jobs, in Texas and across the country, depend upon trade with Mexico, and the federal government shouldn’t do anything to jeopardize those jobs."

El Paso Mayor Dee Margo said that any shutdown or slowdown at ports of entry is devastating for El Paso and for the country. Margo said the reassignment of officers has caused multi-hour waits for commuters and commercial traffic that hurts trade.

“We are the second largest port after Laredo crossing into Mexico. We have six of 28 bridges in Texas and, on the national scale, we are ranked number 10 or 11 in size of import and exports crossing through," Margo said. "We are a major player for international trade with Mexico. If a shutdown were to occur it would devastate El Paso, it would devastate Texas and it is draconian for the United States.”

The Bridge of the Americas, in the center of the El Paso-Juárez trade corridor, is one of three international bridges in the area with commercial cargo crossing lanes.

The increasing wait times to get through commercial cargo inspection lanes at the bridge have created a nightmare for Specialized Harness Products, which has trucks that are waiting four to five times longer than usual to cross the border.

HERE'S THE LATEST FROM THE BORDER: 'We could see the cartels say: This is an opportunity': Shifting CBP officers could leave ports vulnerable

The company brings parts from Mexico to its El Paso warehouse then ships them to customers in the Midwest. It normally ships its products on weekdays, but, because of the longer bridge wait times, it began shipping Saturday.

“When we fall behind” with shipments, “we have to ship every day until we catch up,” Garcia said.

The recent closure means that weekends also will become more difficult, Garcia said.

“If we miss delivery dates, customers will have to try to get parts” from another company, Garcia said.

Tecma's Russell said industry leaders and politcians are voicing their concerns about the bridge problems to Customs and Border Protection officials.

“They hear us, and they are listening,” Russell said. “I think the CBP is doing a fantastic job” of balancing the need to handle the influx of undocumented immigrants to the border with the needs of commerce, Russell said.

Russell said he hopes U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s visit to El Paso on Wednesday and to border areas in Arizona and California Thursday and Friday will help her accurately convey the negative effects of the bridge-crossing problems to President Trump, who Nielsen is scheduled to meet in Calexico, Calif., Friday.

Options do not lessen challenges of fewer officers at ports of entry

In Juárez on Wednesday, hundreds of semitrailers lined the highway along the U.S.-Mexico border as drivers waited patiently to cross electronics, materials and other items north to the United States through the Bridge of the Americas.

Lorenzo Gonzalez, a driver with Mexico-based Cardenal, a commercial transportation company, said the wait made him nervous because he had a deadline for delivering electronics to U.S. companies.

“It usually takes an hour to cross,” he said. “But I’ve been waiting six today.”

His is one story among dozens of drivers interviewed by the El Paso Times who are frustrated with the higher wait times to cross the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso.

Truck drivers on Tuesday night slept in their trucks at the Zaragoza Bridge after being told that the line would not move until the morning.

Many are concerned that the Saturday lane closures will worsen already abnormally long waits.

HERE'S MORE: DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen visits El Paso amid threats of Trump border crossing closings.
CBP spokesman Roger Maier said the Ysleta port of entry, on the far East Side of the El Paso-Juárez trade corridor, will continue to be open eight hours to commercial traffic Saturdays.

The Santa Teresa, N.M., port of entry, near El Paso's far West Side, remains open four hours on Saturdays, he said.

Maier said that CBP officials met with the El Paso-area trade community Tuesday to discuss the closure at the Bridge of the Americas, but he directed all other questions to previous remarks by McAleenan.

Buy PhotoA truck entering the United States from Mexico is inspected at the Bridge of the Americas, also known as the Cordova Bridge, on Wednesday, April 3, 2019. (Photo: Mark Lambie/El Paso Times)


On Friday, one of Specialized Harness Products' trucks tried to cross at the Santa Teresa, N.M., port of entry because of the long wait at the Bridge of the Americas. But Garcia said the wait was worse, so the truck went back to the Juárez factory.

Not being able to get parts shipped out quickly causes production to slow down at Specialized Harness Products’ Juárez plant, which does not store the parts it produces. Garcia said that causes delays in getting parts to its customers.

“Unfortunately, if this continues, we may have to stop an assembly line,” Garcia said.

That would cause problems with the product being produced by that line, he said.

Then, to catch up on production, the company would have to pay overtime, which increases costs, Garcia said.

Trucks will not be allowed to enter the United States on Saturdays at the Bridge of the Americas as the inspection area will be closed to move resources to more pressing needs. (Photo: Mark Lambie/El Paso Times)

https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/ne...ts/3352774002/

BACK THAT TRAFFIC UP TO SOUTH AMERICA!

TURN THESE ILLEGAL ALIENS AWAY...MEXICO NEEDS TO BUS THEM HOME...NOT BUS THEM AND DUMP THEM OVER OUR BORDER!!!