EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Business leaders are encouraging development around the rebuilt border crossing east of El Paso.
The El Paso Chamber of Commerce and several partners including the U.S. House of Representatives. Texas R-Tony Gonzales visited the port this week and met in Farbens, Texas, to discuss ways to increase passenger and commercial trucking volumes with Mexico.
“We must view our ports and infrastructure corridors as a cohesive system. That’s why (the Chamber of Commerce) brings together local leaders and stakeholders to create the conditions for a healthy regional economy,” Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Executive Andrea Hutchins said.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Marcelino Serna Port of Entry is a 117-acre facility built in 2016 to replace the old Fabens Port of Entry connecting Tonillo, Texas, and Guadalupe, Mexico. The goal is to encourage truck traffic from Mexico’s Juárez Industrial Park to use the port and to serve commuter passenger traffic from the lower valley of El Paso and the southeastern suburbs of Juárez.
The tour and meeting focused on promoting the importance of the port in the region’s economy.
Marcelino Serna and the nearby Fort Hancock Port of Entry handled more than 24,000 pedestrians and 366,000 arriving vehicles in 2020 — a 20 percent drop from 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CBP data shows.
“The Marcelino Serna port of entry in Tornillo has the potential to greatly improve our regional economy by increasing trade flows,” Gonzalez said. “Continued cooperation between the two countries to improve our port infrastructure is critical to boosting economic development.”
Business leaders say the port of Tornillo could complement the large number of border crossings in the El Paso area by increasing the efficiency of trucking in Juarez. “However, doing so requires bilateral cooperation at the municipal, regional and federal levels,” the chamber said in a statement.