EL PASO – Commercial trucks crossing El Paso-area international bridges from Mexico are facing waits of up to 12 hours, which is causing production problems in Juárez factories and could slow manufacturing operations in the United States, manufacturing industry leaders say.
The problem could get worse on weekends because one of the bridges is being closed to commercial shipments on Saturdays as federal border agents are reassigned to help process Central American migrants seeking asylum in the United States.
“I’ve never seen this happen to this level,” said David Garcia, director of operations and a partner at Specialized Harness Products, El Paso company that makes wire harnesses at its Juárez factory for construction and recreational vehicles.
Garcia said the company’s trucks have waited up to 12 hours to cross the border since the Trump administration announced that it would reassign at least 750 Customs and Border Protection officers, moving them away from the ports of entry to help with processing migrant families.
For his part, Alan Russell, co-founder and CEO of El Paso’s Tecma Group of Companies, which manages 35 maquiladoras in Juárez said that the reduction of open commercial lanes has left about half of the company’s trucks waiting on the bridges overnight in the past two days.
Source: El Paso Times