MISSION — Faced with a nearly four-hour delay at the Anzalduas border crossing on Wednesday morning, bridge administrators submitted an emergency request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for extra personnel — and agreed to pay extra, too.
Travelers headed to South Padre Island and San Antonio traditionally travel through the Rio Grande Valley during Semana Santa, the Holy Week holidays. Shoppers also visit Valley malls and restaurants, pumping millions into the local economy.
First, though, they must actually enter the United States, enduring long waits at local border crossings. Superintendent of Bridges Rigo Villarreal — who runs the Hidalgo-Reynosa and Anzalduas border crossings for McAllen, Mission and Hidalgo — conservatively estimated the wait at 3 1/2 hours Wednesday morning.
“And CBP doesn’t have any money, so it’s really not their fault,” Villarreal said.
The lengthy waits deter Mexican travelers from visiting the United States and even stop Americans from visiting Mexico, knowing they will encounter traffic jams on the way home.
Villarreal didn’t have many options last year. Workers handed out water bottles and shuttled Mexican travelers to nearby bathrooms, but remained powerless to reduce the wait.
With help from U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, among other lawmakers, local bridges now have another card to play. Both Cornyn and Cuellar pushed for Customs and Border Protection to allow public-private partnerships, which would fund infrastructure and additional personnel when needed. Customs and Border Protection launched a pilot program Aug. 2.
Together, local governments and private investors who own international bridges between Laredo and Brownsville formed an entity called the South Texas Asset Consortium, which allowed them to join the pilot program.
Anzalduas management arranged to pay for additional personnel during Semana Santa, partially funded by the McAllen Chamber of Commerce. Villarreal said he wanted Customs and Border Protection to “double-stack” the inspection lanes, which would speed traffic by running K-9 checks on queuing vehicles and reminding Mexican travelers to have documents ready.
“This is an emergency request for double stack at Anzalduas for at least the next eight hours," Villarreal wrote to Customs and Border Protection management at 10:10 a.m. Wednesday. “Official request form will follow.”
Customs and Border Protection, which requests all interview questions in writing, couldn’t immediately comment on the request. Villarreal estimated the additional personnel for five days — April 10, April 11, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday — will cost approximately $25,000.
By 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, the wait had dropped dramatically. Customs and Border Protection kept the line moving and an extra supervisor joined the regular inspection team. Meanwhile, workers handed out water and attempted to make the wait comfortable for Semana Santa travelers.
“They expect to pay for it,” Villarreal said, talking about the bottled water. “But we want to make their experience memorable — a good experience.”
http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/faced-with-semana-santa-traffic-anzalduas-bridge-pays-for-extra/article_a4b9bc2e-c5cf-11e3-83e5-001a4bcf6878.html
