CBP POE Update on Southern Border

A little over 4 months ago, President Trump threatened to close the border between the United States and Mexico, which would significantly impact international trade between the two countries.  In response and ever since the announcement, leadership from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has hosted a public call every week.  The call prior to this call was on July 12, explaining the situation on the U.S. Southern border with Mexico.  Our friends at NASCO, the North American Strategy for Competitiveness, an organization that promotes and improves North American trade, attended the last conference call on August 1, 2019 and shared notes.  Please see below:

Good Day NASCO members,

Please see below bullets from today’s USCBP POE update call;

• Apprehensions exist from numbers and numbers of those in custody continue to decrease
• July numbers are down to less than 100,000 compared to 104,000 in June and 144,000 (estimate) in May
• This is attributed to:
  • Increased engagement by Mexican authorities
  • Summer heat which typically results in lower volumes
  • Congressional supplemental
  • “Remain in Mexico” program; migrant process begins but person returns to Mexico to await court process
• CBP Officers returning to original ports has began; CBP is starting with 25 officers from San Diego that were deployed to Yuma, who are now returning to San Diego
• This signifies the beginning of the “draw down” with the exception of Laredo
• No change to port operations.  The cargo wait times are still about 10% higher than last year
• Airport delays remain a concern but overtime funding will help