As Texas reopens, border leaders say restrictions at international bridges should be lifted – By Julian Aguilar (Texas Tribune) / Sept 29 2020
Local leaders say the federal government’s decision to extend a ban on nonessential travel across the U.S.-Mexico border is crippling their budgets and local businesses.
For a few days last spring, Amy Guadiar was able to take her mind off the shoppers from Mexico her store has been missing since the COVID-19 pandemic struck the borderland.
The government’s one-time stimulus checks, issued in April, briefly brought shoppers from El Paso back to Contigo, a downtown El Paso garment store that’s suffered financially since the Trump administration closed the southern border to nonessential crossers from Mexico in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. But the boost in business didn’t last.
“People came to shop after they received their checks,” she said. “But it’s difficult again.”
The international bridges that connect Texas and Mexico remain partially closed to noncitizens who can’t show their travel into Texas is considered essential, a definition that excludes people crossing for tourism or shopping. Last month, the Department of Homeland Security extended the policy until at least Oct. 21. The agency is also using additional screening measures, such as flagging more travelers for secondary inspections, to discourage nonessential traffic, which has made wait times even longer.
Continue to article: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/29/texas-coronavirus-restrictions-international-bridges/
