US reopens key Texas-Mexico international rail crossings

WASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) -

The U.S. reopened two rail crossings between Texas and Mexico on Friday, five days after the key trade routes were closed in order to redeploy border personnel in response to increased migrant crossings, the Biden administration said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said operations were resuming at 2 p.m. ET at the international railway crossing bridges in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas. The closures had prompted alarm from railroads, the agriculture industry and some lawmakers over the economic impact to export trade.

Ian Jefferies, CEO of the Association of American Railroads, praised the reopening. "These ill-advised closures were a blunt-force tool that did nothing to bolster law enforcement capacity," he said. "With the crossings reopened, railroads are focused on closely partnering with CBP to maintain the secure, reliable service that customers deserve and our nation requires."

The Biden administration on Monday

closed the trade routes due to increased migrant crossings. U.S. Border Patrol apprehended about 10,800 migrants at the southwest border on Monday, according to an internal agency report reviewed by Reuters, which several current and former officials said was near or at a single-day record high.

CBP said it will "continue to prioritize our border security mission as necessary in response to this evolving situation."

Growers, representing corn, milk, rice and soybean producers, among others, this week estimated that every day the crossings were closed "almost 1 million bushels of grain exports are potentially lost along with export potential for many other agricultural products."

The National Grain and Feed Association and the North America Export Grain Association welcomed the reopening. "Any closure of crossings into Mexico is unacceptable and significantly impacts the flow of grain and oilseeds for both human and livestock feed to one of the United States’ most important export markets and trading partners," they said.

The CBP said on Friday that Eagle Pass vehicular processing remained suspended along with San Diego San Ysidro’s Pedestrian West operations. In addition, port of entry operations at Lukeville, Arizona, and Morely Gate in Nogales, Arizona remain suspended . (Reporting by David Shepardson; additional reporting by Karl Plume Editing by Chris Reese)