Congressman Gonzalez Statement on Delays at International Bridges in the Rio Grande Valley

WASHINGTON – Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) today issued the following statement in response to reports that international bridges in the Rio Grande Valley are facing extensive delays due to the reassignment of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel and the President's recent threat to close the border.

"U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel already face challenges in how quickly it processes trade on a day-to-day basis across multiple international bridges in the Rio Grande Valley and along the U.S. Southwest Border.

"What I cannot understand is how redirecting 750 CBP officers away from ports of entry and threatening to close the border helps. Instead, this has only exacerbated currently understaffed border agencies' ability to efficiently and effectively process cross-border trade. Lanes are closing. Produce awaits in peril, some of it rotting before making it to grocery stores in the U.S. United States citizens are waiting hours on bridges to return home after a day of work in Mexico. Meanwhile, we have thousands of unfilled CBP positions that have been vacant for over a year now, and a President who cannot understand why we need to add more immigration judges to our current system. The irony.

"I want President Trump, Secretary Nielsen, and Commissioner McAleenan to take responsibility for this economic turmoil because this is a monster of their own creation."

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