U.S. Rail Crossing Closures Have Impeded Trade At U.S.-Mexico Border
As The Associated Press reported in December, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) closed two critical rail ports in Texas, one in Eagle Pass and one in El Paso, in an effort to stem a surge of migration.
The CBP did not say how long rail operations would be paused, but officials argued the “temporary” suspension of operations will enable the government to redirect personnel to assist the CBP with taking migrants into custody.
According to other news reports, hundreds of millions of dollars in freight travels through the El Paso and Eagle Pass rail lines each day so the closures are affecting international commerce, and, most primarily, the agricultural, food, automotive, consumer goods, and industrial commodity sectors. Specifically, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics data, El Paso and Eagle Pass accounted for $33.95 billion, or 35.8 percent, of all cross-border rail traffic from November 2022 to October 2023.
A total of nearly 10,000 rail cars are being held on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.