Mexican trucking group urges US to clarify B-1 visa revocations 

Reyes said CANACAR has historically maintained a good working relationship with CBP and met with the agency earlier this year as concerns about visa revocations began emerging.

“We have always had a very good relationship as a chamber, as an institution,” Reyes said during an Aug. 21 news conference posted by Cree En La Noticia.

Reyes said CANACAR met with CBP around February and was initially told that nothing had changed regarding enforcement procedures. But visa revocations continued after the meeting, he said.

“They calm down for two, three weeks, a week, and then suddenly the operation comes all week,” Reyes said, describing periodic enforcement actions in which multiple drivers have their visas revoked.

About six weeks ago, CANACAR sought another meeting with CBP, according to Reyes, but was told by email that nothing had changed and another meeting was unnecessary.

“That is very worrying, that they no longer want to have a dialogue with us,” Reyes said.

Related: US revokes 20,000 visas for Mexican truckers as cabotage crackdown expands

For Mexican drivers, CANACAR said losing a B-1 visa can eliminate income earned from international freight trips.

Reyes said CANACAR estimates that between 150 and 200 drivers in the Mexicali region have had their visas revoked so far in 2026.

CANACAR representatives have separately estimated that roughly 25,000 visas have been revoked from Mexican commercial truck drivers across the country’s northern border, although U.S. officials have not publicly confirmed that figure.

The dispute centers on how cabotage rules are being interpreted during international freight movements.

Cabotage generally involves a foreign carrier transporting freight between two points within the United States rather than conducting an international movement. CANACAR officials said they recognize that Mexican B-1 drivers cannot transport domestic U.S. freight but contend that enforcement officials are applying different interpretations to legitimate international trips.

Industry representatives want officials to clearly define what actions constitute a violation because they believe the rules are being interpreted differently by enforcement personnel along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Alfonso Esquer Millán, vice president of CANACAR’s Northwest region, pointed to differing interpretations over what happens after a Mexican truck delivers an international shipment in the United States.

Some officials, he said, apparently believe the truck must return to Mexico empty after completing the delivery and then reenter the United States empty before picking up another international shipment. Others allow a Mexican driver who delivers a shipment in the U.S. to reposition the truck, pick up a Mexico-bound load and return south.

CANACAR maintains that neither scenario constitutes cabotage as long as the driver isn’t transporting freight between two domestic U.S. points.

“While the Mexican operator with the B1 visa is on an international trip, there is no problem, loaded or empty,” Esquer said the same news conference as Reyes. “Cabotage is moving cargo between two points in the United States. We know that is prohibited; we are not doing that.”

The uncertainty comes amid heightened scrutiny of Mexican commercial drivers at the border. CANACAR said some drivers have been subjected to inspections of their trucks and phones, while Reyes alleged that in some instances officers covered cameras installed inside trucks before conducting inspections.

Reyes and Esquer also said that losing experienced cross-border drivers could have unintended safety consequences for carriers scrambling to replace them.

Carriers could be forced into the labor market to replace drivers quickly, potentially increasing the risk of hiring someone who is less qualified, according to Reyes.

“Our concern is that we have to go to a market of unemployed operators with a need to hire quickly, and we can make a mistake in the replacement of a driver not fully qualified from the perspective of security,” Reyes said.

CANACAR said the visa revocations are affecting not only Mexican carriers and drivers but also manufacturers and maquiladoras that rely on cross-border trucking to move goods between Mexico and the United States.