A long line of trucks stalled at the Zaragoza International Bridge, one of two ports of entry in Ciudad Juarez going into the U.S.on April 12, 2022. The truckers blocked both north and south bound commercial lanes in protest after prolonged processing times implemented by Gov. Abbott which they say increased from 2 to 3 hours up to 14 hours.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appeared in 2022 with border sheriffs to announce his many endorsements from law enforcement groups as he ran for re-election.
A child's shoe hangs caught in razor wire atop the bank of the Rio Grande on Jan. 9 in Eagle Pass. Following a major surge of migrant border crossings late last year, large quantities of refuse left behind by migrants as well as miles of razor wire installed by Texas National Guard troops remain along the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass.
Texas Department of Public Safety Chief Steve McCraw, center, stands with officials as they wait for the arrival of Congressional members on Jan. 3 in Eagle Pass.
If President Joe Biden sealed the border with Mexico, as many Republicans are demanding, their Super Bowl parties would be very sad, as a former president might say.
No avocados or tomatoes for guacamole. No tequila or limes for margaritas. Americans would lose more than $3.45 billion worth of beer if the president closed the crossing at Eagle Pass alone, trade data shows.
Autoworkers couldn’t afford a party due to furloughs caused by shortages of Mexican-made parts. The border towns would lose up to 40% of workers who cross daily. Restaurants and hotels would close, and rich folks would have to clean their own toilets.
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Yet migrants would continue risking life and limb to save their lives and limbs. History shows where there is a will, there is a way to cross the shallow river and cut through the brush and mountains.
Sealing the border is physically impossible, and closing trade would trigger an economic catastrophe.
Mexico is the United States’ largest trading partner, with exports to Mexico totaling $362.7 billion and imports reaching $500.7 billion in 2022, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. Mexico is a significant supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables, many of which come across the Texas border.
Trade is essential to Eagle Pass, where Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the Texas National Guard to prevent federal Customs and Border Protection agents from doing their jobs.
More than $33 billion in rail traffic passed through Eagle Pass and El Paso in fiscal year 2023, representing more than a third of all cross-border trade, Bureau of Transportation Statistics data showed.
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At Eagle Pass’ two international bridges, crossings in December totaled 186,000 private vehicles, 12,115 commercial trucks, 950 buses and 111,235 pedestrians, city data shows. Eagle Pass alone engaged $34.67 billion in international trade in January-November 2023. The city, with 29,000 people, is the 10th busiest border crossing in the country. Texas-Mexico trade totaled $515 billion last year.
Too many people imagine border towns as dusty little one-stoplight hamlets where men wearing sombreros wrap themselves in blankets for siesta. Or they believe hatemongers like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who echo 19th century racist tropes about people from south of the border.
“This is an invasion from Third World countries. They’re coming here with health issues, they’re uneducated, unemployed and all they do is commit crime on the streets,” he told Fox News on Wednesday.
What Patrick failed to mention is that 8% of the Texas workforce is undocumented, Pew Research reported in November. The Texas Senate, which he leads, has never passed legislation to punish businesses for hiring them because key industries would collapse without them.
The borderlands are among the most economically vibrant areas in Texas. Most of the rhetoric about enforcing immigration law, whether Republican or Democratic, sounds silly once you drive along the banks of the Rio Grande.
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There is a wall that stretches for miles, but gates are left open to grant Texans access to their U.S. property sandwiched between the wall and the river. Wetlands and mountains make fencing impossible along many stretches of the 1,200-mile Texas-Mexico border.
If you want an idea of what it looks like, Getty photographer John Moore, who I embedded with during the 2003 Iraq Invasion. He has documented every mile from San Diego to Brownsville. As a former soldier, war correspondent and frequent “la linea” visitor, I can assure you no government can seal any border longer than a few dozen miles.
Abbott’s seizure of 2.5 miles of border proves the point. He ordered National Guard troops to take over a city park and place shipping containers and concertina wire along the river. He deployed a 100-yard death trap in the water.
Migrants keep wading anyway, trying to find an opening and begging for help. They walk to a break in the barrier, approach a border patrol officer and ask for asylum.
Ending the crisis requires far more sophisticated solutions than fencing. Solutions also require congressional action.
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Congress must grant Biden legal authority to reject faulty asylum claims. If migrants believe the U.S. will turn away illegitimate claims, they will not come.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas needs more money to hire 1,600 asylum officers, 1,300 border patrol agents and 1,000 homeland security investigators. The administration has asked for $16 billion to improve enforcement.
However, the GOP wants independent voters to talk about immigration rather than abortion rights, the Democrats’ favorite wedge issue. As politicians say, never let a crisis go to waste. But the truly sad part is the human suffering that will persist while Congress bickers.
Award-winning opinion writer Chris Tomlinson writes commentary about money, politics and life in Texas. Sign up for his “Tomlinson’s Take” newsletter at houstonhchronicle.com/tomlinsonnewsletter or expressnews.com/tomlinsonnewsletter.
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