El Paso - State Sen. José Rodríguez released the following statement regarding CBP redeployment that will cause lane closures and extended processing times for border crossers:
Total vehicle crossings from Mexico in 2017 totaled almost 40 million, and pedestrian crossings 17 million. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, truck traffic accounted for 69 percent of the $557 billion in trade between the U.S. and Mexico in 2017. Mexican shoppers account for billions in retail sales annually - estimated at $2 billion a year in a 2006 Dallas Fed report, a put at more than $4 billion in a 2012 Dallas Fed report - in Texas border communities. This is highly seasonal, and we are heading into the most important retail quarter of the year.
We have a very strong economic relationship with Mexico that goes in both directions, and benefits us locally, statewide, and nationally. Now, faced with a refugee pilgrimage to safety in the U.S. during a holiday season that celebrates the traditions of sanctuary, the administration not only is preparing to meet them with force, it is apparently willing to choke commerce in so doing. Putting military on the border and failing to adequately staff ports of entry at a critical time for seasonal commerce and family visits fails the United States in every way. It is immoral, and it is bad business sense.
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José Rodríguez represents Texas Senate District 29, which includes the counties of El Paso, Hudspeth, Culberson, Jeff Davis, and Presidio. He represents both urban and rural constituencies, and more than 350 miles of the Texas-Mexico border. Senator Rodríguez currently serves as the Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, and is a member of the Senate Committees on Natural Resources and Economic Development; Transportation; Veteran Affairs and Military Installations; and Agriculture, Water, and Rural Affairs.