The Northern Border Affairs Committee, that also has two Mexican Congressmen members, today filed a petition to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene with the U.S. government in order to assign more agents at the U.S.-Mexico border to speed up the waiting times.
Jaime Bonilla Valdez, chairman of the committee, was asked to submit the application in full due to the request made by residents who live in the region.
"We are asking the federal government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to act on behalf of those of us who live in the northern region of the border, because we suffer long waiting times when it comes to crossing the border which also result in an economic loss ," said Bonilla.
The U.S. budget cuts have affected various federal agencies including this one that is responsible for border crossings. Decreasing resources and security features has only increased waiting times of up to 5 hours and economic losses to both countries.
Due to the problems at the border, on April 17 the Northern Border Affairs Committee and the Smart Border Coalition, all representatives of the different levels of the Mexican government, along with businessmen and officials from both sides of the border will analyze the legal framework that provides a solution to the wait times for crossing the border.
In this meeting that is being planned, the Mayor of San Diego, Bob Filner, and the Mayor from Tijuana, Carlos Bustamante, will be present and will both soon after travel to Washington to discuss this situation at the border.
Brenda.Colon@sandiegored.com
Omar.Martinez@sandiegored.com
