BROWNSVILLE, Texas (Border Report) — Commercial traffic heading south of the border is returning to normal after a nationwide failure of Mexico’s customs equipment prompted the suspension of cargo lanes at one South Texas bridge and caused significant backups at several other bridges.
On Wednesday night, the Agencia Nacional de Aduanas de Mexico (ANAM) announced it was suspending all operations at the Puente Internacional III de Comercio bridge between Nuevo Laredo, Mexico and Laredo, Texas.
Backups also were reported at the Colombia Solidarity International Bridge, which connects to the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon.
An official with the city of Laredo told Border Report that the system was back up on Thursday morning, and truckers were slowly beginning to cross from South Texas into the northern Mexican states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon.
The World Trade Bridge is the No. 1 inland port for commercial trucks on the Southwest border and is where billions of dollars of trade and commerce cross the border every year.
The announcement by ANAM was shared throughout social media and on X where numerous truckers commented on waiting for hours to cross into Mexico.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson confirmed to Border Report there were “national issues” and referred all further questions to ANAM.
The CBP spokesperson said there was no problem with U.S. processing equipment at any of the South Texas ports of entry.
However, the shutdown was causing backups of truckers who were stuck, unable to cross the Rio Grande from Laredo, Texas, into Mexico.
On Thursday, the City of Laredo issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that “traffic is slowly beginning to clear,” and for residents to “exercise caution when driving.”
Big 18-wheeler rigs were lined up on Loop 20 between FM1472 and Interstate 35 and causing backups throughout the border town.
Truckers also could be seen on City of Laredo webcams moving slowly through the Colombia Solidarity Bridge on Thursday afternoon.
The Laredo official told Border Report that “all bridge operations were impacted so no clearance export to Mexico. Different bridges were impacted differently.”
With all cargo inspections halted, truckers could not cross.
Officials estimate that $1 million cross to and from Mexico per minute with about 20,000 trucks a day crossing.
“It did impact commerce and the system,” he said.
At the Pharr International Bridge, in the Rio Grande Valley, Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez said there was no closure or unusual wait times. “It didn’t affect us,” he told Border Report.
Hernandez said it’s not cost-effective for truckers to loop three or more hours east just to cross the border when they’ll have to make up that distance back on the Mexican side. He said when closures happen, most truckers will stay put and wait.
At the Veterans International Bridge, in Brownsville, there was a line of trucks waiting on the highway earlier Thursday. But that dissipated by early evening.
One trucker, who just crossed from Mexico and did not want to be identified, told Border Report that the closure affected the entire country but now everything is getting back to normal.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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