El Paso

Noi Mahoney Wednesday, February 12, 2020

CBP inspectors check imported Valentine’s Day flowers for pests and diseases

With Valentine’s Day just days away, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents are working hard to make sure imported flowers are pest and disease free. “CBP agriculture specialists are working hard every day preventing potentially harmful plant pests and foreign animal diseases from entering the U.S.,” Hector Mancha, CBP El Paso director of field […]

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Noi Mahoney Thursday, November 21, 2019

Trucks carried 70% of all U.S.-Mexico freight in September, up $400 million, according to data

Trucks again carried the majority of cross-border imports and exports during the month of September, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Cross-border truck freight between the U.S., Canada and Mexico totaled $64 billion, or 63.1% of all cross-border freight during September 2019. Along the U.S.-Mexico border, trucks carried 70% […]

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Noi Mahoney Thursday, August 8, 2019

GAO critical of “outdated” inspection practices at U.S. ports by Customs and Border Protection agents

United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspection policies “don’t reflect new technology or threats” and are “outdated,” according to an August 6 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). CBP border inspections for passenger and commercial vehicles currently include reviewing travel documents, screening against law enforcement databases and using canines and X-ray machines. However, […]

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Noi Mahoney Thursday, July 18, 2019

Pentagon sends 2,100 more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to assist migrants and ports

The United States is sending an additional deployment of 1,100 active-duty troops and 1,000 Texas National Guard soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border, Pentagon officials announced July 17. The new active-duty troops will arrive in Texas “in the next several weeks” and will provide “aerial surveillance, operational, logistical and administrative support” to U.S. Customs and Border […]

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Noi Mahoney Thursday, July 11, 2019

Texas border bill aims to stop produce imports from wilting at international ports-of-entry

Texas Gov. Greg Abott recently signed a bill aiming to speed up the inspection process for trucks carrying fresh produce across ports-of-entries along the Texas-Mexico border.  Texas House Bill 2155, which goes into effect September 1, reauthorizes a 2015 program allowing the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) to award grants totaling $750,000 over the next […]

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Noi Mahoney Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Texas border ports-of-entry continue to confront spillover from international migration crisis

A week after several international border bridges between the United States and Mexico had to be closed because of the migration crisis, U.S. officials announced migrant border arrests fell 28 percent in June. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced July 9 that about 104,000 migrants were taken into custody entering the Southwest border […]

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Noi Mahoney Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Officials say migrant checkpoint in Mexico affects cargo truck wait times in Ciudad Juarez

After the threat of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Mexican freight transporters  are now facing a new challenge with an anti-immigration checkpoint in Ciudad Juarez that is stretching wait times up to three hours near the border. Trucks and passenger vehicles traveling on the Chihuahua-Juárez highway heading north to El Paso are being delayed at a […]

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Noi Mahoney Monday, June 24, 2019

Texas sends another 1,000 National Guard troops to Mexican border in response to migrant crisis

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, announced June 21 that he would send another 1,000 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to aid the federal government with border security efforts. Abbott said the additional troops would serve a “short-term mission” assisting U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents at new migrant facilities in the […]

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