SANTA TERESA, N.M. (Border Report) – When Texas truck inspections slowed traffic to a crawl at El Paso’s commercial ports of entry in April 2022 and September 2023, the Santa Teresa, New Mexico, border crossing picked up the slack.
According to the Chihuahua Bridge Trust, fewer than 800 cargo trucks crossed into the U.S. from Mexico through the Ysleta port of entry and only 220 through Tornillo, Texas, during the Texas “enhanced” inspections. That compares to the nearly 1,500 clearing Santa Teresa – which sits on a state that showed no interest in following Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s crackdown in the middle of a particularly substantial migrant surge from Mexico.
“We got a significant amount of traffic that came through Santa Teresa, and we were able to handle it. I mean, the lines naturally get a little longer and the wait times also get a little longer, but we can handle it,” said Jerry Pacheco, president and CEO of the Santa Teresa-based Border Industrial Association.