Fumes, Frustration and Fury at Border Crossings

by Frontera Norte Sur

The causes for the delays are multiple: tightened U.S. security checks, limited inspection personnel, bridge fare increases, computer breakdowns and construction projects. But in a sister city defined by binational social relationships and cross-border commercial transactions, many are sounding the alarm bell about negative impacts to local economies and lives.

Posted on September 10, 2007


Frayed nerves, hot tempers and sharp words are in abundance these days at border crossings in the Paso del Norte region. In scenes reminiscent of the days following the 9-11 attacks, some motorists have waited recently for up to two or three hours to cross from Mexico into the United States. Even the so-called "fast lane" that theoretically allows pre-screened border crossers willing to pay a hefty annual fee to zip across the border has witnessed delays of 10-15 minutes. The causes for the delays are multiple: tightened U.S. security checks, limited inspection personnel, bridge fare increases, computer breakdowns and construction projects.

In a sister city defined by binational social relationships and cross-border commercial transactions, many are sounding the alarm bell about negative impacts to local economies and lives.

"The number of customers has gone down considerably," affirmed Ciudad Juarez market seller Jorge Puentes Martinez. "The long lines on the bridges have resulted in the decrease of tourists that come."

Lisa Johnson, a U.S. tourist, agreed that the lengthy border crossing times discourage U.S. residents from spending their dollars in Mexico. "We love to come over and buy arts and crafts but the wait of more than two hours on the bridge makes you not want to come," Johnson said.

If long waits on the U.S.-Mexico border aren’t enough, Mexican truckers coming from the south now sometimes confront two-hour delays south of Ciudad Juarez at checkpoints set up to detect illegal drugs, arms and Central American migrants.

Ciudad Juarez is not the only potential loser in the border crossing back-up. A study by Texas A&M Professor Michael Patrick found that an estimated 30-40 percent of economic activity on the Texas border is linked to Mexico, whose citizens frequently shop in US cities like El Paso.

Patrick’s study contended that a 10 percent reduction in border crossings could result in sales reductions of more than one percent, slashes in local tax collections of about two percent and a rise in the unemployment rate of one percent.

The Border Trade Alliance, a cross-border business promotion organization, is studying the economic impact in El Paso-Ciudad Juarez of the crossing times, an issue which concerns locals at a moment when talk of recession is in the air. Besides the economy, border crossing delays impact the environment and public health. Long lines of idling vehicles emit more exhaust fumes, contributing to the pollution of an already dirty airshed and threatening the health of border crossing workers and street vendors who spend hours every day on the international bridges.

In 2001, two children died after being exposed to excessive levels of carbon monoxide that built up in the family vehicle as it was returning to El Paso from Ciudad Juarez. Carlos Rincon, the director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s El Paso office, has called the area’s five border crossings “points of chronic suffocation.â€