I attended the Binational Bridges and Border Crossings Group Meeting in Mexico City, MX June 9th - 11th on behalf of Presidio County
I had the privilege of representing Presidio County a few days ago in Mexico City at a conference made up of top officials from Mexico and the United States for discussion of crossings along the entire U.S./Mexico border. This group’s mission is to connect officials and stakeholders from both sides of the border in person with each other. The intended result of having these meetings is to further improvements in every facet of transnational trade, binational relations, and movement through the ports.
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County Judge Portillo was unable to attend, and I’m grateful he encouraged me to go instead. I met a lot of people and learned a lot about border trade at both large and small ports of entry across the country.
The attendees were representatives of the federal governments of both Mexico and the U.S., state officials from both sides, various local government officials and businessmen involved in everything from governmental relations to logistics. Because I’m a small fry in this world, I was not invited to any high level confidential or sensitive meetings but I was invited to a short reception and then a 4 1/2 hour long presentation that focused on trade volume, upcoming/ongoing expansion and build projects, challenges and solutions to problems. There was time at both these events to meet new people and initiate conversations about Presidio County and the Presidio/Ojinaga port of entry.
Pictured in the link below is El Paso Commissioner David Stout talking about the Tornillo International Bridge as an overflow conduit for El Paso traffic while the Bridge of Americas is closed for rebuild.
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The meeting was held at the building of the Secretariat of Foreign Relations, in the historic district right next to the Chinatown area of CDMX. I’m unsure of how many people were in attendance, but the large hall was full and it wasn’t easy to get a seat. Federal representatives from both Countries introduced the initial speakers, who were also federal officers in charge of international trade facilitation. In the general seating area were all the local officials and businessmen. I recognized and got to talk for a while with El Paso County Commissioner David Stout, who is very engaged in interantional affairs. I also met several U.S. officials from the Department of Transportation, including Barbara Klein Barr, the Director of International Programs at the Federal Railroad Administration. We talked about the anticipated opening of the South Orient/Texas Pacifico rail line in early 2026 and I advocated for support and explained our support for the project and integration for future transloading with our vehicular bridge. Marfa came up as a topic with Carson Poe, a Senior International Transportation Specialist with USDOT because he has been here. we also knew a couple of people in common. I chatted otherwise with several El Paso County officials who specialize in border trade and the rep from TXDOT with regard to our ongoing attempt to expand and modernize our port of entry.
Presidio Mayor John Ferguson walked in just as the long presentation was about to start in earnest; I was thrilled to see him as I didn’t know he was coming. He informed me that he had a short presentation to make to the group, with Powerpoint slides in support. So that was exciting.
We chatted with a few folks and then found seats not near each other as the hall was completely full. Once an hour or so went by I was able to seat next to him so we could share some commentary on what was being presented by the various bridge administrators, all the way from Tijuana to Brownsville.
Despite the long schedule, the information from every different presenter was very interesting; it’s amazing the impact of successful port systems. Ease of crossing, commercial development, security, cultural exchange and even historic preservation of an out of service suspension bridge are examples of topics that ran the gamut of everything you can imagine when you’re moving people and goods. Cooperation, efficiency and expansion were prevalent themes.
I was proud and also relieved that Mayor Ferguson had prepared a presentation. Proud because his presentation was coherent and concise. relieved because before he presented I realized that if he had not been there to do that we would have had no representation (or been discussed at all). Anyway, he was great and did a great job. I admit I was a bit surprised that the group from the State of Chihuahua only made a passing reference to the Presidio/Ojinaga port. As it turns out, they have 7 ports of entry total and five of them are major volume ports; we were too small to include in the limited time they had to present.
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I do plan on attending this same group meeting in two years; I will have a presentation ready on my own or in conjunction with the Presidio Mayor, if he attends again. I really got a lot out of this and the importance of being present in person cannot be adequately measured.
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I recall that in the years when I was attending the Presidio International Port Authority (PIPA) meetings there was a trip to Washington D.C. for this same Biennial meeting (every two years rotating locations between the U.S. and Mexico) that included Judge Guevara, Jake Giesbrecht (PIPA contractor), Commissioner Jim White, and Mayor Ferguson.
Now I fully understand what they were all talking about when they returned. The business of U.S./Mexico trade ports is massive, nearly beyond comprehension. The benefits are myriad to economies on both sides of the border, and advancements in safety, efficiency and technology are happening fast. Once the meeting was over my brain felt sore; there’s so much to think about.
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We have a lot of opportunity at our Presidio/Ojinaga port, and if we run out of strictly public options for development and improvements, there are multiple private partners with prior successes than can be engaged to help us. I plan to work on behalf of the County over the next coming years to make sure that we move forward on improving our County government’s financial future by advocating for responsible development of cross border trade here.
Between our soon to be reopened rail line and our existing auto/truck/pedestrian bridge we are about to witness a time in which we could possibly create permanent ongoing economic development in the City of Presidio, which suffers from one of the lowest per capita family income rates in the State. The benefits would include improving our access to regionally grown fresh, quality produce from Mexico, increasing our regional security through economic stability, and promoting our cross-cultural heritage as one of the oldest trade routes in the New World (yes, since the 17th Century). Communication between all levels of government on both sides of the border is the grand facilitator. I am committed to educating myself further and I thank everyone for allowing me to be a representative of Presidio County.
Sincerely,
David