The migratory crisis due to the voluntary surrender of thousands of foreigners seeking asylum in the US does not favor the crossing of merchandise and passengers through this border.
On Friday, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said there will be longer than normal wait times at the Ysleta port of entry as CBP agents working there are assisting with the influx of migrants.
“Personnel assigned to the Ysleta Port of Entry will assist U.S. Border Patrol with processing the influx of migrants currently occurring in the El Paso area,” said Roger Maier, spokesman for CBP El Paso.
“The deployment of CBP officers from the port of Ysleta will also likely impact wait times for traveling members of the public,” the official said.
On Thursday, CBP announced that the commercial lanes of the Bridge of the Americas were closed until further notice for the same reason agents were needed to help process migrants.
The impact on the lines was immediate, with waits of up to two hours for private vehicles to cross into El Paso via the Zaragoza-Ysleta bridge, according to data provided by CBP.
“We are living the same nightmare that we suffered about four or five years ago before the pandemic, when the United States authorities moved agents to process migrants and neglected the bridges… and that is not valid,” said Rodolfo Peña, a resident of East Step.
To prevent cities on both sides of the border from being affected by the continuous closures of international bridges, Commissioner Iliana Holguín, representative of Precinct 3, urged the United States government to attend to the emergency in order to avoid disruptions both in the social as well as the economic.
“I think that as the government of the United States we need to help these countries,” Holguín said after emphasizing that security problems, violence, lack of employment and meager salaries have forced thousands of immigrants to flee their countries of origin.
He stressed that for these reasons people leave overwhelmed and fearful of despair. “It is urgent to help these countries find solutions so that their inhabitants do not have to leave and stay in their homes,” he said, referring to what would be a fundamental solution to the immigration problem.
As binational communities, dependent on each other in various areas, it is important that there is this understanding to face the contingency, which was activated at the end of 2022, the authorities of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez agree.
“I know that it is difficult, it is a very complicated situation that has occurred in recent weeks and that the bridges have been forced to close due to the presence and intention of hundreds of migrants who intend to enter the country. And that obviously affects the economy of both cities a lot.”
Both Holguín and the county judge Ricardo Samaniego and the mayor Óscar Leeser, consider it essential that everyone work together, at the local and federal level to try to resolve the situation and avoid affecting international trade.
It was said that the closure of the aforementioned international bridge will result in heavy economic losses for businessmen on both sides of the border, who use this crossing, especially the manufacturing sector.
According to data from Juarez carriers, an average of three thousand export movements are carried out daily, of which 70 percent are carried out through the Zaragoza international bridge, 20% more through the Córdova Américas, and the rest through Santa Teresa, which will impair the movement of merchandise from Juárez to El Paso, Texas.
“Those 600 movements that until Thursday were made through the so-called free bridge, will have to be made through another crossing, for which more time will have to be invested with the economic repercussions that this represents,” said Manuel Sotelo, leader of the carriers in Juarez City.
“The measures adopted by the CBP to withdraw its customs agents will be indefinitely to the detriment of an area like ours that has an export vocation,” he denounced.
Despite the fact that the border has occupied the first national place in manufacturing exports for the last 8 years, he added that this type of measure spoils the development of the region.
In turn, Holguín said that the situation causes economic losses and inconveniences for users, both those who cross on foot and by vehicle, and now to the commercial sector with the closure of export lanes since merchandise from Mexico cannot enter.
He added that for many years both Border Security and Protection and the Border Patrol have had problems hiring new elements, so a problem of this nature (immigration) has a negative impact.
“For many years they have lacked sufficient personnel and this was exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
