McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Four Southwest ports of entry that had been closed due to a recent migrant surge will reopen later this week, White House officials said Tuesday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers will resume inspections and operations on Thursday at these ports that are to reopen, according to senior White House administration officials:
- In Eagle Pass, Texas, International Bridge No. 1.
- In San Diego, California, San Ysidro’s Pedestrian West crossing.
- In Lukeville, Arizona, the Lukeville Port of Entry.
- In Nogales, Arizona, the Morely Gate border crossing.
The announcement comes after a White House delegation traveled to Mexico City last week and met with Mexican officials regarding immigration concerns in the region.
White House officials, during a call with media late Tuesday, said the ports will resume operations because Mexico has committed to future enforcement actions against illegal immigration. And because U.S. officials have noticed that Mexico has significantly increased enforcement actions during the past week that has resulted in reduced migrant numbers attempting to cross into the United States on the Southwest border.
This includes Mexico reducing the number of immigrants riding atop trains to the border, and stalling a migrant caravan in the southern state of Chiapas, which U.S. officials say is not moving north and is losing numbers.
“The caravan has not moved in several days,” a senior White House administration official said. “We are encouraged to see it isn’t moving and it appears to be reducing in size.”
U.S. officials also said they “commend Mexico” for steps the country has taken within the past week to initiate repatriation flights of migrants from Mexico to Venezuela.
White House officials would not specify other enforcement actions that Mexico has promised to carry out.
But they said that the Biden administration will be hosting Mexican officials in the United States later this month to continue immigration talks.
The number of migrants trying to cross from Piedras Negras, Mexico, into the South Texas border town of Eagle Pass dropped by nearly half on Monday. Officials said about 2,500 migrants were encountered on New Year’s Day in Eagle Pass, down from over 4,500 that were reportedly crossing daily for the past couple of weeks.
The International Bridge 1 has been closed since Nov. 27 to vehicular traffic from Mexico so that CBP officers could help to process the onslaught of thousands of migrants daily. The migrants have been processed in a field beneath International Bridge 2.
And rail service even was halted for a time, but resumed just before Christmas in Eagle Pass, and in the West Texas border town of El Paso.
“This is a welcome development and I’m pleased to see that international trade between the U.S. and Mexico will continue to flow,” said U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat who represents South Texas. “It is critical that we have law and order on the border. However, we need to ensure that we are prioritizing legitimate trade through our ports to keep our economy strong.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is headed to Eagle Pass on Wednesday with a delegation of 60 other GOP leaders to tour the border.
White House officials criticized the trip noting lawmakers returned to their districts over the Christmas holidays, rather than stay in Washington to hammer out immigration issues that are threatening another government shutdown later this month.
“Speaker Johnson and House Republicans should stop playing games and work to pass immigration reforms,” a senior administration official said.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also is scheduled to visit Eagle Pass next Monday, Jan. 8.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
