CBP Commitment – It Means Business for the Border
By: Congressman Pete P. Gallego
A total of 2,000 new U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers will be hired in the months ahead and assigned to ports of entry around the country. CBP officers are critical to the movement of people, goods, trade and commerce in and out of the United States. Ports of entry in Eagle Pass and El Paso, where lines can be long and wait times bad, will get additional CBP officers. This is good news.
Having more officers at our ports of entry will ease the traffic and congestion that plague border crossings along the southwest border. As a congressman representing over 800-miles of international border and with five ports of entry in the district, I know it’s extremely important to get our goods and services flowing smoothly and efficiently over our international bridges. For businesses large and small, time is money and lost time is lost money.
Twenty-nine ports of entry connect Texas with three Mexican bordering states: Chihuahua, Coahuila and Tamaulipas. On average, about 60 percent of U.S.-Mexico trade crossed at a Texas land port between the years of 2004 and 2012. Texas ports of entry handled more than $195 billion in trade in 2012 – helping to fuel the economies of border cities like Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras and El Paso/Ciudad Juarez.
Mexico is Texas’ largest trading partner. In 2012, Texas-Mexico trade outpaced Texas-China trade by an astounding $51 billion. This massive amount of economic exchange is a welcomed benefit, but places a heavy strain on our ports of entry.
In recent years, traffic lines at ports of entry have only grown. Long lines waiting to enter the United States are common on many bridges. Bridges can become parking lots when traffic slows to a crawl. When that happens, everyone loses. Lost time slows down commerce and costs cities on both sides of border money and jobs.
Coming from the border region, one of my top priorities was getting additional CBP officers to ports of entry in Texas. Through the work of the Congressional Border Caucus, I’ve joined border congressmen like Beto O’Rourke of El Paso and Filemon Vela of Brownsville to find innovative strategies that balance our trade policy and protect our national security. Our work continues, and the additional personnel working the lines at our ports is a positive development.
It helps our economy when Mexicans spend their money on purchases made in the United States. In fact, our border economy depends on our neighbors from Mexico coming across to shop and buy goods. This mutually beneficial relationship creates jobs in border cities like Eagle Pass, Del Rio, Presidio, Fort Hancock, Fabens and El Paso. Keeping traffic at the border moving is good for business – and good for our families.
The approximate 1,969 miles that make up the magnificent and wonderful U.S.-Mexico border are the front door to Texas and the United States. Let’s make sure our front door is always open to business and opportunity.
U.S. Representative Pete P. Gallego, D-Alpine, represents the 23rd District of Texas, which includes all or parts of 29 counties in southwest Texas, stretching from San Antonio to El Paso. He serves on the House Armed Services and House Agriculture Committees.
