Millions of dollars of merchandise stranded due to Texas DPS inspections at commercial crossings

JUÁREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- The Texas Department of Public Safety continues its secondary inspections of commercial trucks at the BOTA and Zaragoza Ports of Entry. This is causing maquiladoras and industries to send most of their cargo to the Santa Teresa and Tornillo bridges.

According to the former Vice President of the National Chamber of Industry Thor Salayandia, approximately over $32 million were stranded on Saturday alone when the inspections started at Zaragoza.

ABC-7 spoke with a truck driver who did over 14 hours of waiting on Monday at the Zaragoza entry.

José Pérez arrived at the bridge in the early hours of the morning when operations started at this port of entry, and he confirmed that he left the Texas troopers' inspection around 10:30 p.m.

Pérez had to go to an alternative route today, he is currently making the line at the Marcelino Serna (Tornillo) Port of Entry.

Salayandía also mentioned this economic burden happening on our border comes after some maquiladoras have lost employment and competitivity.

Some truck drivers are used to crossing over into the U.S. with two or three loads per day, but with recent inspections, one trip is not even guaranteed for them.

The migrant crisis is still hitting the border economically, as more businesses barely recovering from last year's surge are being impacted again ahead of the start of May.