WASHINGTON (June 26, 2019)—The Border Trade Alliance hails the passage of a $4.5 billion supplemental spending bill that will direct funds to border security agencies, including Customs and Border Protection.

“This bill is critically important,” BTA President Ms. Britton Clarke said. “Border agency professionals, especially CBP officers, have been performing under intense pressure throughout the migrant crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border over the last several months. Resources, including overtime dollars are running short. The BTA applauds this bipartisan effort to ensure our agencies at the border have the resources necessary to carry out their important mission.”

BTA Chair Paola Avila said the bill’s provision to reimburse border communities for the costs associated with the influx of Central American asylum-seekers is encouraging. “The last several months have been challenging at all levels of government, including for border states, cities and towns, and for their local aid agencies,” Avila said. “We appreciate that congressional leaders considered the needs of the communities that have been uniquely affected during this period.”

Avila said that while passage of the bill comes as a relief, the cross-border trade community hopes Congress and the administration will begin to assess the long-term needs of border agencies, especially if the current environment is the new normal.

“We are grateful for passage of this bill and for new funds that will bolster staffing levels and reduce wait times at our ports of entry for legitimate trade and travel,” Avila said. “But before the migrant crisis, wait times were already too long, an issue only exacerbated by the redeployment of CBP officers away from the ports to assist Border Patrol. We would encourage the White House and Congress to plan future budgets that prioritize the needs of our ports of entry and reflect the importance of sufficiently staffed, well-resourced borders to the nation’s security and economic health.”

 

Since 1986, the BTA has served as grassroots, non-profit organization that provides a forum for discussion and advocacy on issues pertaining to border development and quality of life and trade in the Americas. A network of public and private sector representatives from the United States, Mexico and Canada, BTA’s core values include a commitment to improving the quality of life of border communities through trade and commerce. The BTA is online at thebta.org and @borderalliance.

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