WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Thom Tillis and his colleagues recently sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding the BidenAdministration re-open railway commerce at the Southern border. Earlier this week, the Administration closed the railways to process migrants illegally crossing the border.
“We write today to express our serious concern with the Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) recent actions to suspend international railway crossings and rail operations in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas. On December 18, 2023, CBP pulled personnel from those operations and redirected them to assist with the migrant surges at the southwest border. In recent weeks, CBP has suspended vehicle processing at Eagle Pass International Bridge 1 and operations at California’s San Ysidro Pedestrian West and Arizona’s Lukeville Port of Entry. Without putting real policies in place to cut the increasing flow of illegal immigration, our national security and economy will continue to pay the price,” the senators wrote.
“CBP’s decision to suspend rail service and close international crossings at Eagle Pass and El Paso directly and immediately impacts our carriers’ ability to move goods across the North American rail network and to the North American consumers who rely on them. The success of our trade partnership with Mexico relies on the successful operation of these international railway crossings. U.S. goods and services trade with Mexico totaled an estimated $855.1 billion in 2022. Eagle Pass and El Paso accounted for a total of $33.95 billion or 35.8% of all cross-border rail traffic to and from Mexico in the last year,” the senators continued.
“The crisis at our nation’s southern border is unprecedented and is the worst it has ever been in our country’s history. Only smarter and effective policies will guide us out of it, and without a real plan, this Administration will hardly address the substantial challenges that currently exist. Redirecting a small group of CBP personnel away from these rail entries will not do anything to get us closer to a solution. We urge you to re-open the rail ports of entry at Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas. Further, we urge you to take this humanitarian, security, and economic crisis seriously and engage with Congress to enact real policy change that stops the flow of illegal migration,” the senators concluded.
Read the full letter HERE.
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