EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Juarez Mayor Cruz Perez Cuellar says his city is not ready for a proposed U.S. ban on commercial trucks at El Paso’s Bridge of the Americas port of entry (BOTA).
“Everybody in Juarez understands that it is not our decision; it’s a decision the U.S. has to make,” Perez Cuellar said at a Wednesday luncheon of the Central Business Association at the El Paso Civic Center. “But at some meetings they have asked for our opinion. Our opinion is we are not ready. I think both communities … we’re not ready for the closure of BOTA to commercial trailers.”
The U.S. General Services Administration is managing a planned $650 million modernization of the port of entry between El Paso and Juarez and is leaning toward a permanent ban on trailers primarily coming from maquiladora assembly plants south of the border.
The moves comes after years of complaints from residents of neighborhoods near the port in South-Central El Paso about pollution and traffic. Those complaints lately have found a friendly ear among local elected officials.
But ports of entry field traffic from both sides of the border and generally address needs and interests in both.
Perez Cuellar said he, too, would like to see heavy truck traffic sent away from residential neighborhoods. But he said his city does not have the roadways to do that and industry leaders are not ready to send their trucks on a long roundabout to alternate crossings in Tornillo, Texas, and Santa Teresa, New Mexico.
“I think it would be great for Juarez when all the commercial vehicles go (there) because it would give us a break with the traffic. But we don’t have the infrastructure right now to do that,” Perez Cuellar said.
He said Juarez is asking the Mexican federal government for a major investment in public works to route trucks from dozens of industrial parks in central and east Juarez to Tornillo. Right now, most of the factories in those industrial parks have well-established routes to BOTA and to the Ysleta Port of Entry they consider crucial to getting merchandise into the United States as soon as possible.
Truckers have told Border Report they rely on BOTA for a speedy return trip of empty containers from El Paso to Juarez that allows their companies to send a second and even a third shipment across the same day.
“We are not saying that shouldn’t happen. We’re just saying to be careful and enact legislation or do things in a way that all of the parties involved have a say,” said Tanny Berg, founding member of the Central Business Association.
He said there have been “very little studies” to show the environmental impact of the proposed truck ban. This, in the context that thousands of passenger vehicles moving at a snail's pace would continue using the port of entry daily.
“We are not that opposed to closing the bridge when the infrastructure is ready,” Berg said. “The roads to connect where the maquilas are to Tornillo and Santa Teresa are not ready yet. All we are saying is give us a little bit more time, make sure we don’t turn off the maquiladora industry which is feeding the economy of our area. But we want to be mindful of the un-attainment we’re having with carbon monoxide.”
A group of concerned residents calling itself Familias Unidas del Chamizal in December held a vigil after the Mexican government sent a diplomatic note to the U.S. State Department raising concern over the possible truck ban.
“The environmental justice issues plaguing our neighborhood demand urgent attention,” the group said in an email last month. “The health impacts of these mobile sources of pollution are damaging the environment, our Earth, and the health of the community, especially our children.”
El Paso City Council member Ivan Niño said El Paso is an important cog in the U.S. economy because of international trade. He called for dialogue between all parties and for government agencies to “make sure all the infrastructure is there.”