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Mexican Truckers Denied Entry as CBP Enforces Cabotage Rules
Visas Automatically Revoked Using Past DOT Violations, ELD and GPS Data
Key Takeaways:
- DOT and CBP confirmed DOT records now inform Border Patrol decisions blocking Mexican truckers with prior cabotage violations at U.S.-Mexico crossings.
- The change follows complaints from Mexican trucking and San Diego business groups with Otay Mesa reporting 300 denied crossings and media reporting 3,200.
- CBP said it is modernizing data sharing with DOT and may use ELD, GPS and inspection records to identify potential cabotage violations.
U.S. Border Patrol agents are now using federal transportation records in a system that stops Mexican truckers with past cabotage violations from entering the country.
Both the Department of Transportation and Customs and Border Protection confirmed this change to Transport Topics following public complaints from a Mexican trucking organization and a San Diego business group.
The electronic merging of DOT records is providing Border Patrol agents with information about cabotage violations from past roadside inspections, resulting in CBP enforcement actions at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“For years, foreign carriers exploited enforcement gaps created by the previous administration to illegally haul freight within our borders, undercut American truckers and violate our laws. The era of looking the other way is over,” a spokesperson said.
Under Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, DOT is leveraging data sharing with CBP “to ensure that if a driver is caught breaking our cabotage laws, there are immediate and real consequences. If you violate the terms of entry into this country, you forfeit the privilege to operate on our roads,” the spokesperson added.
Pedro Lozano Martínez, president of the Nuevo Laredo Freight Carriers Association, raised concerns about the new electronic barriers in a Spanish-language TV interview with Agencia RN Noticias.
(AgenciaRNnoticias via YouTube)
In the past, he said, DOT inspectors at weigh stations would cite Mexican truckers for cabotage, but “nothing happened back then” because DOT lacked the authority to revoke visas. Now, CBP electronically revokes visas for Mexican truckers with prior cabotage violations when they try to enter the U.S.
A CBP spokesperson confirmed that enforcing cabotage laws depends on interagency collaboration with DOT.
“This crucial information sharing continues to be modernized, allowing us to use data from both agencies more effectively and enforce U.S. laws. Alien truck drivers with B-1 nonimmigrant visas are only permitted to transport cargo in international commerce, and engaging in cabotage is a violation of their nonimmigrant status, leading to potential visa cancellation or revocation,” CBP noted.
RELATED: Federal Agents Take Aim at ‘Cabotage’ in Arizona
Some 300 Mexican truckers trying to cross the Southern California border have been denied entry due to cabotage, according to the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce in San Diego. Other news media have placed the number as high as 3,200 Mexican truckers unable to cross this year due to cabotage violations.
When asked to provide metrics, the CBP spokesperson said “specific enforcement data” is unavailable. However, the spokesperson said CBP has seen “an increase in encounters involving illegal alien truck drivers and cabotage cases, particularly in border regions, and will enforce immigration laws for anyone found to be in the U.S. illegally, including truck drivers, to protect the legitimate trucking industry, ensure fair competition and support safe freight movement nationwide.”
The Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce recently has issued a series of notices warning about the heightened border enforcement for cabotage.
On May 19, it issued a “Statement of Facts: Cross-Border Trucking Enforcement Crisis.” It accused CBP of revoking Mexican trucker visas for cabotage based on a “3-year lookback” using electronic logging devices, GPS data, and DOT Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration inspection records.
Image
(Sandy Huffaker/Bloomberg)
Further, the chamber declared that information is being considered “without written guidelines, without a formal appeals process, and on the basis of an informal, unwritten ‘24-hour rule’ that has no basis in published law.”
The chamber said CBP’s apparent informal 24-hour rule involves agents revoking B-1 visas from drivers who have been in the U.S. for more than 24 hours and “treating time alone as proof of a cabotage violation” — an approach that differs from federal law, which is based on the definition of freight movement by a driver.
The CBP spokesperson said CBP uses records such as ELD data from devices that often have GPS capabilities “to ascertain driver movements and hours of service” and relevant PSP inspection records “to identify potential cabotage violations strictly prohibiting foreign carriers from transporting goods or passengers between two domestic points within the United States.”
When asked about the 24-hour rule, the spokesperson answered, “CBP may consider the duration of a foreign driver’s stay or activity within the U.S. as an indicator of potential cabotage violations. However, the core principle remains that they are only permitted to transport cargo in the stream of international commerce when entering or leaving the United States.”
