EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Trucks carrying merchandise to the U.S. are sitting in line for hours at the El Paso-Juarez border, as the Texas Department of Public Safety has resumed enhanced inspections of commercial vehicles.
The trucks are waiting 480 minutes (eight hours) or more to cross the border at the Ysleta port of entry, when the usual wait time is about an hour, according to the official U.S. Customs and Border Protection website.
The lengthy safety inspections, which Texas has used in the past to pressure U.S. and Mexican officials to prevent mass illegal migration through the state, come days after large numbers of prospective asylum-seekers began arriving in large numbers in trains to Juarez. Some of those migrants have been coming across the Rio Grande into El Paso, walking several miles along the levee to skirt the Texas Army National Guard and razor wire in place there.
“You can imagine what it is to be a supply chain manager when something like this happens. It just creates major havoc in the entire supply chain,” said Jerry Pacheco, president and CEO of the Border Industrial Association. “The worst thing is it’s uncertain when it’s going to end. You can’t even plan for this. It completely disrupts our cross-border trade.”
The inspections began on Saturday morning, according to a trade notice sent by CBP to industry stakeholders. That immediately resulted in a more than 10% reduction in total truck traffic. CBP as of Monday has expanded inspection hours at commercial crossings in the region. The Santa Teresa, New Mexico, port of entry west of El Paso will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Friday. The Marcelino Serna port in Tornillo, Texas, to the east will open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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Trucks wait on the Mexican side of the Ysleta port of entry to cross into the United States. Hours-long delays are being blamed on “secondary” inspections the State of Texas is conducting after U.S. federal authorities clear the trucks to enter the country. (Miguel Paredes/KTSM) -
Trucks wait on the Mexican side of the Ysleta port of entry to cross into the United States. Hours-long delays are being blamed on “secondary” inspections the State of Texas is conducting after U.S. federal authorities clear the trucks to enter the country. (Miguel Paredes/KTSM) -
Trucks wait on the Mexican side of the Ysleta port of entry to cross into the United States. Hours-long delays are being blamed on “secondary” inspections the State of Texas is conducting after U.S. federal authorities clear the trucks to enter the country. (Miguel Paredes/KTSM) -
Trucks wait on the Mexican side of the Ysleta port of entry to cross into the United States. Hours-long delays are being blamed on “secondary” inspections the State of Texas is conducting after U.S. federal authorities clear the trucks to enter the country. (Miguel Paredes/KTSM)
In Juarez, industry reps and trucking company representatives called for an immediate end to Texas “unnecessary” truck inspections, which they deemed political – more than a public safety matter.
Industry leaders north of the border echoed that sentiment.
“Whenever Texas DPS has done this, they never found anything substantial on trucks coming across the border,” Pacheco said. “It is a political thing; it’s Austin picking on El Paso.”
Border Report reached out to Texas DPS for comment and is awaiting a response. The state has conducted enhanced inspections at the El Paso-Juarez border in 2021 and 2023 coinciding with migrant surges.