The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency has shut down the Eagle Pass, Texas, border crossing – the second-busiest rail gateway to Mexico – due to the worsening migrant crisis.
Union Pacific and BNSF Railway interchange with Ferromex at the Eagle Pass-Piedras Negras gateway, where about 16 trains per day cross the Rio Grande, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics data.
“The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agency closed train traffic at Eagle Pass Wednesday, pausing rail cars,” UP said in a customer advisory last night. “The closure is due to the migrant crisis on the Southern Border. Union Pacific’s other gateways cannot handle the extra traffic and we are notifying our customers of an embargo at Eagle Pass, effective immediately. This will help us better manage your shipments during this dynamic and rapidly developing situation.”
The railroad says it remains in communication with Customer and Border Protection officials and that operations remain normal at UP’s other gateways to Mexico.
On Tuesday the mayor of Eagle Pass, a city of 28,000, signed an emergency declaration due to the surge in undocumented immigrants crossing the Rio Grande. More than 2,500 crossed the river on Wednesday, the New York Times reported, and many migrants are camped out beneath the international railroad bridge.
UP’s interline Falcon and Eagle premium intermodal services use the Eagle Pass gateway. The route also carries millions of cases of Modelo and Corona beer annually that are produced at the Constellation Brands brewery in Nava, Mexico, 25 miles south of the border. Modelo Especial became the top-selling beer in the U.S. in May.
BNSF on Wednesday placed an embargo on traffic interchanged with Ferromex at Eagle Pass as well as at El Paso, Texas. “This embargo is issued to comply with the Department of Homeland Security border closure order at Eagle Pass as well as to ensure the safe, secure, and orderly resumption of interchange at the Eagle Pass and El Paso border crossings following the resumption of northbound FXE service canceled due to safety and security concerns,” the embargo says.
“During the embargo, BNSF will not accept new shipments through El Paso,” BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent says. “However, as conditions allow, we will move some shipments already en route.”
The Eagle Pass shutdown comes during a turbulent week for cross-border traffic. On Monday, Ferromex temporarily suspended operations in some areas of Mexico due to the large numbers of migrants seeking to hop freight trains to the U.S. border.
Ferromex said that 60 northbound trains were being held for safety reasons. In the past few days about six migrants have been seriously injured or killed trying to board Ferromex trains, the railroad said.
Crowds of migrants have grown significantly in recent days near Ferromex terminals and routes. More than 1,500 people have gathered in Torreón, Coahuila; more than 800 in Irapuato, Guanajuato; and about 1,000 people on the route between Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez, which is across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.
Eagle Pass handled 243 northbound trains in August, compared to 346 at the top rail border crossing that links Laredo, Texas, with Laredo-Nuevo, Mexico, according to BTS data. Canadian Pacific Kansas City and UP interchange with CPKC de Mexico at Laredo.
El Paso, the No. 3 gateway in Texas, handled 107 northbound trains in August. BNSF and UP interchange with Ferromex at the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez border crossing.
Note: Updated at 2:22 p.m. Central with comment from BNSF.
Share this article
