U.S.-Mexico Border Delays Costing Economy Billions
Delays at U.S.-Mexico border crossings cost the U.S. economy $7.8 billion in 2011 as improvements lagged behind traffic growth, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.
And the cost could rise to almost $15 billion annually if the value of U.S.-Mexico truck trade reaches $463 billion by 2020 as predicted, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The Senate’s debate of an overhaul of the nation’s immigration system is focused on securing remote stretches of the border instead of long-needed improvements in technology, infrastructure and staffing at border crossings, according to Matthew Hummer, a senior transportation analyst at Bloomberg Government.
The Senate bill includes funding for 3,500 additional Customs officers and earmarks $6.5 billion for border security, Bloomberg said.
With few exceptions, monthly surface trade among Nafta trading partners Mexico, the United States and Canada have risen steadily every month in a year-over-year basis, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data.
Modernizing land ports of entry, which average more than 40 years old, would cost $6 billion according to a 2011 Customs and Border Protection report, with about half that cost earmarked for the southern border, Bloomberg reported.
