Page 7 - Aruba Today

U.S. NEWS A7
Wednesday 13 January 2016

US border agents begin inspecting US-bound trucks in Mexico

cilities effectively meld two in San Diego with a bridge Woodrow Wilson Center
stops into one. that crosses a razor-wire for International Scholars’
“It just makes an awful lot border fence to Tijuana’s Mexico Institute.
of sense,” said U.S. Cus- airport, believed to be “They’re going to get to
toms and Border Protection the only cross-border air- know each other better
Commissioner R. Gil Ker- port outside the European than ever before,” Wilson
likowske, who hopes to ex- Union. said. “This is really joint bor-
pand the program to other The larger significance of der management in its ear-
crossings with Mexico and joint cargo inspections is ly stages.”
Canada. that U.S. and Mexican of- Plans for the joint inspection
The latest demonstration ficials will work under the facilities have been in the
of closer border ties came same roof, sharing intelli- works for a long time but
a month after a group gence and other informa- faced resistance in Mexico
of U.S. and Mexican inves- tion, said Christopher Wil- over allowing armed U.S.
tors opened an air terminal son, deputy director of the agents to do the work.q

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Ker-
likowske, right, gestures alongside Mexican Secretary of Fi-
nance Luis Videgaray, fourth from left, and Baja California Gov.
Francisco Vega de la Madrid, second from left, during an in-
auguration ceremony for a new border truck inspection station
built for both Mexican and U.S. customs Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016,
in Tijuana, Mexico.

(AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

ELLIOT SPAGAT ing times in half, said Arazeli
Associated Press Penilla, compliance officer
TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) at Driscoll Strawberry Asso-
— U.S. authorities began ciates Inc.
working Tuesday on Mexi- Inspections by U.S. officials
can soil for the first time to initially will be limited to ag-
inspect trucks bound from ricultural products deemed
Tijuana to the United States low risk for carrying pests or
as part of a new enforce- disease.
ment program intended Truckers arriving at the
to reduce congestion and former electronics plant
speed cargo across one of stop at separate win-
the nation’s busiest border dows staffed by Mexican
crossings. and U.S. inspectors who de-
The joint inspections by U.S. cide if they must pull aside
and Mexican officials were to have cargo scanned.
launched after Mexican If cleared, they can drive
lawmakers overcame re- through a walled area into
sistance and approved San Diego.
changes to the country’s In October, Mexican of-
firearms law to permit for- ficials began inspecting
eign customs and immigra- Mexico-bound electron-
tion officials to be armed ics, automotive and aero-
on the job. space parts alongside U.S.
“The benefit is very simple counterparts at Laredo In-
— avoid double inspec- ternational Airport in Texas.
tion,” Mexican Treasury Later this year, U.S. authori-
Secretary Luis Videgaray ties plan to begin inspect-
said at the joint facility in Ti- ing trucks of U.S.-bound
juana’s Mesa de Otay sec- computers in San Jeronimo
tion, a few blocks from the in the Mexican state of Chi-
crossing. huahua, near the border
The impact was difficult to cities of Ciudad Juarez and
gauge as U.S. and Mexican El Paso, Texas.
officials marked the occa- Cargo has long been in-
sion by letting a shipment spected in the U.S. and in
of strawberries head to San Mexico — an exercise that
Diego. can take several hours. The
Trial runs last week cut wait- new “pre-inspection” fa-