El Paso CBP Port Director Talks About Long Wait Times At Bridges
In the middle of meeting with the city and the Texas Department of Transportation, many border crossers stood up and said they’re fed up with wait times at international bridges along the borderland.
They think Customs and Border Protection isn’t doing enough to move people along. Agency officials disagree.
On a hot Friday afternoon, the heat outside intensified the frustration of border crossers inside their cars. Nereida Zuniga complained, “Right now we have about 20 minutes and it’s too hot!”
Her thought is that officers at the border take too long.
However, “We’re talking about processing time of less than a minute and a half,” said Bill Molaski, port director for El Paso.
He explained bridge wait times have improved with the addition of lanes and technology to speed up the process. “Will there be free flow across the border? No. I don’t think it was that way in the past as much as we’d like to think, nor will it be that way in the future,” he said.
CBP officials expressed they’ve always worked closely with the city and continue to do so during the bridge study conducted by the Texas Department of Transportation and a consulting firm.
Molaski said people just have to be patient while officers help keep the community safe. “We have to be right 100 percent of the time, people entering into the United States. Having said that, we have to significantly increase our security,” he explained.
Officials told ABC-7 they try to have all lanes open at the bridges during peak travel times, including keeping officers at the booths after their shift. They noted sometimes lanes are closed if the officers are needed to help inspect vehicles more closely than the vehicle tapping done at the booth.
According to officials, the wait is reduced if border crossers have their paperwork ready. There are also the SENTRI lanes where a person can pay $122 for 5 years of shorter lines.
Molaski said officers have arrested more than 300 felons and caught more than 1,400 illegal immigrants so far this year. That’s compared to 1,500 for all of last year.
“It causes a little wait time, but those narcotics, the illegal immigrants, the known criminals are not being introduced into our community here because of the work the men and women are doing down here on a daily basis,” explained Molaski.
As for the bridge study, the hope is to have a plan by the end of the year.
