WASHINGTON — The Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, railroad border crossings will reopen at 1 p.m. Central today, ending a shutdown that had stranded freight on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border since 8 a.m. on Monday.
Railroads cheered the announcement that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials made today.
“The Biden Administration made the right decision to protect our supply chain and keep goods moving between the U.S. and Mexico,” Ian Jefferies, CEO of the Association of American Railroads, said in a statement. “In the face of the unprecedented humanitarian crisis, CBP has been working under exceptionally difficult circumstances, but these ill-advised closures were a blunt force tool that did nothing to bolster law enforcement capacity. As CBP continues their work to address this crisis, railroads strongly encourage the agency to abandon this tactic moving forward in favor of approaches that are capable of meaningfully enhancing its response capabilities.”
Union Pacific and BNSF Railway send a combined two dozen trains across the bridges at Eagle Pass and El Paso, the No. 2 and No. 3 rail gateways to Mexico, respectively. Mexican railroad Ferromex is the U.S. railroads’ interchange partner at both border crossings.
“Union Pacific is relieved the border crossings at Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, will reopen,” spokeswoman Robynn Tysver says. “These crossings are critical gateways for international commerce, and the closures had real-world impacts for families, businesses, and our customers on both sides of the border. We will restore normal operations as quickly as possible as we work through the five-day backlog of shipments holding to cross the border.”
Customs officials said they would continue to prioritize border security as the migrant situation evolves.
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