WASHINGTON, DC, US — US agriculture groups said they were pleased rail crossings critical for the movement of grain reopened on Dec. 22 after US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) closed them for four days.

The crossings at Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, US, were closed starting Dec. 18 because CBP redirected personnel to help with taking migrants into custody.  

The closings had begun “rippling back into the US supply chain and having negative impacts on the US economy,” according to a large coalition of US agricultural groups, including the North American Millers’ Association and the National Grain and Feed Association.

“This is certainly a welcome relief,” said Harold Wolle, president of the National Corn Growers Association, on the reopening. “We are very appreciative that CBP was responsive to our calls to have the border crossings re-opened, but we hope this experience serves as a cautionary tale moving forward. Rail is a key mode of transportation for our exports into Mexico, so closing rail crossings can have devastating ramifications for farmers and the economy.”

In a Dec. 20 letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of Homeland Security, the group noted two thirds of all US agriculture exports to Mexico are hauled by rail, with $28.5 billion in sales in 2022. The market is the second largest for US agricultural exports.

“Each day the crossings are closed we estimate almost 1 million bushels of grain exports are potentially lost, along with export potential for many other agriculture products,” the group said. “Each additional day of closures results in rail carriers having to idle trains or reroute them in illogical ways to try to serve customers, all of which adds friction within the supply chain.”

The group pointed out the exports represent human food and animal feed, and the suspension of the shipments raises the risk of food insecurity and food price inflation in Mexico.

“It is hard to understand how CBP would allow this to happen to the food chain of our neighbor and one of our closest trading partners,” the group said. “It is our firm belief that if food insecurity in Mexico increases, the migrant crisis could actually worsen with more attempts to cross the US border.”

The CBP blamed the closing on a surge of immigrants, many of whom it said were “misled and victimized by transnational criminal organization.”