EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The mayor of Juarez says Mexico is sending a diplomatic note to the U.S. State Department relaying concerns from industry leaders about the proposed banning of commercial trucks at El Paso’s Bridge of the Americas port of entry.
“These are matters between national governments (but) they authorized us to inform (the public) about the note,” Mayor Cruz Perez Cuellar said at a Monday news conference. “We gave our formal opinion to the U.S. government like the (Maquiladora Association), like the Transportation Association did.“
The U.S. General Services Administration has been holding public stakeholder meetings in El Paso and is considering permanently banning commercial truck traffic from BOTA after it undergoes a multimillion-dollar remodeling in a near future.
Elected officials in El Paso support the plan due to pollution concerns in South-Central El Paso residential neighborhoods and because they believe other area ports of entry – Ysleta, Marcelino Serna and Santa Teresa (New Mexico) – can absorb truck traffic from BOTA.
Even before the drafting of a diplomatic note, Mexican officials had expressed opposition to the plan.
“We need more bridges, more operating hours and more (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) personnel,” Thor Salayandia, board member of the Mexican Chamber of Industry, told Border Report earlier. “Ysleta has too much traffic. If they close BOTA, we will have to find (other) ways to send our exports.”
Border Report and KTSM have reached out to El Paso County officials for comment and are awaiting a response.
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