Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras Welcome Lifting of Non-Essential Travel Restrictions at U.S.-Mexico Border
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2021
Eagle Pass, Texas Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico Mayor Claudio Bres Garza welcomed Mexican and foreign non-essential travelers who are fully vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, November 8, 2021, at 12:01 a.m. as the non-essential travel restrictions imposed by the United States government on March 20, 2020 were officially lifted at all U.S.-Mexico border ports of entry, including Eagle Pass Port Entry.
Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. stated that he was “very excited that the non-essential travel restrictions were finally lifted after 20 very long months” and that a recent study found that these restrictions had caused a loss of $164 Billion in the State of Texas during the past 20 months.
Mayor Salinas noted that the lifting of the non-essential travel restrictions are welcomed by the City of Eagle Pass as the city has sustained significant financial losses of general revenues from the two Eagle Pass International Bridges receiving less vehicle traffic during the past 20 months, estimated to be between $3-4 Million.
Eagle Pass Port of Entry Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Director Paul Del Rincon stated that CBP is anticipating vehicle traffic to increase from its 7-8,000 vehicles per day to up to 12,000 per day upon the lifting of the non-essential travel restrictions on November 8, 2021.
Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico Mayor Claudio Bres Garza stated that during the past 20 months in which the non-essential travel restrictions were in place, the United States and Mexico learned the interdependence of each other for international commerce and trade as well as social, cultural, and familial relations between the two countries.
Mayor Bres Garza noted that there were hundreds of vehicles on the Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico side of Eagle Pass International Bridge No. 2 waiting in line to cross into the United States through the Eagle Pass Port of Entry upon the lifting of the non-essential travel restrictions at 12:01 a.m on November 8, 2021.
The first Mexican non-essential traveler to cross into the Eagle Pass Port of Entry at 12:01 a.m. on November 8, 2021 was Ms. Claudia Nevarez of Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico, a city about 125 miles from Eagle Pass, Texas. Ms. Nevarez stated that she arrived in Piedras Negras, Coahuila at about 6 p.m. and waited about two and half hours in line before being allowed to cross into the United States as the first non-essential traveler with proof of COVID-19 vaccination on November 8 at 12:01 a.m. Ms. Nevarez added that she enjoys visiting Eagle Pass and the United States to purchase consumer goods and clothing for the family and herself as well as visiting family and friends in the United States.
Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico celebrated a lifting of the non-essential travel restrictions and re-opening of the Eagle Pass Port of Entry to non-essential travelers at a brief ceremony held at Eagle Pass International Bridge No. 2 at 12:01 a.m.
