By Juan Montoya
![A CBP officer conducts a primary inspection at Brownsville Port of Entry]()
It struck Neece that the the city of Brownsville could also assist the CPB in making travel easier for Semana Santa tourists who spend money in the city and in South Padre Island.
"At that time we asked whether the city could ask the CBP to open an extra traffic and pedestrian lane and we were told that the city didn't have a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with them, but that Cameron County did."
If they could get the county to agree to let the city piggyback on their MOU and reimburse the CBP for their manpower to monitor the lanes, he didn't see any problem, Ortiz said.
Neece and Lopez then approached the county and requested that the city be allowed to use their existing MOU. At the last meeting, the county commissioners considered approving another MOU between the city and the county in executive session and it was approved. Before that, the city commission had voted to make the request to the county.
Now Lopez said that they are awaiting the response from the CBP on the request as early as Friday. Holy week extends from March 25 to march 31. Ultimately, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will recommend the best times to open additional lanes to ensure safety and efficiency, he said.
But while the county approved the city piggybacking on its MOU, the commissioners did not approve sharing in the cost or reimbursing the CBP and the city will have to pay for it alone. That's why some commissioners were miffed when County Judge Eddie Treviño was quoted in the local daily as if it had been the county's idea.
"We hope this measure encourages visitors to return and invite their friends," he told the daily. "If this mode and process works, it is something that we might want to do for other busy times of the year."
Did anyone get the license plates of that hijacker?
It all started a few days ago when City of Brownsville Commissioner Ben Neece and Interim City Manager Michael Lopez attended a ceremony at the offices of the Customs and Border Patrol when new Port Director Tater Ortiz announced their measures to facilitate bridge crossing for Holy Week travelers from Mexico.
“Holy Week is a peak travel period and CBP has implementation of multiple facilitation measures and travel tips continues to aid in keeping wait times down to manageable levels while retaining our ability to carry out our border security mission,” said Ortiz. “We encourage travelers to present WHTI- (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative) compliant documents during inspection, and use their RFID-enabled documents through our Ready Lanes."
“Holy Week is a peak travel period and CBP has implementation of multiple facilitation measures and travel tips continues to aid in keeping wait times down to manageable levels while retaining our ability to carry out our border security mission,” said Ortiz. “We encourage travelers to present WHTI- (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative) compliant documents during inspection, and use their RFID-enabled documents through our Ready Lanes."
"At that time we asked whether the city could ask the CBP to open an extra traffic and pedestrian lane and we were told that the city didn't have a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with them, but that Cameron County did."
If they could get the county to agree to let the city piggyback on their MOU and reimburse the CBP for their manpower to monitor the lanes, he didn't see any problem, Ortiz said.
Neece and Lopez then approached the county and requested that the city be allowed to use their existing MOU. At the last meeting, the county commissioners considered approving another MOU between the city and the county in executive session and it was approved. Before that, the city commission had voted to make the request to the county.
Now Lopez said that they are awaiting the response from the CBP on the request as early as Friday. Holy week extends from March 25 to march 31. Ultimately, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will recommend the best times to open additional lanes to ensure safety and efficiency, he said.
But while the county approved the city piggybacking on its MOU, the commissioners did not approve sharing in the cost or reimbursing the CBP and the city will have to pay for it alone. That's why some commissioners were miffed when County Judge Eddie Treviño was quoted in the local daily as if it had been the county's idea.
"We hope this measure encourages visitors to return and invite their friends," he told the daily. "If this mode and process works, it is something that we might want to do for other busy times of the year."
Did anyone get the license plates of that hijacker?