Mayor Saenz issues statement on return of CBP Agents to Laredo

Mayor Pete Saenz has released the following statement in response to news of some CBP agents returning to their posts at Laredo ports of entry:

“We welcome news of the return of some of our CBP agents to our Laredo ports of entry – the largest inland port in the western hemisphere. I can personally attest that our federal leaders, Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and Congressman Henry Cuellar have listened to our concerns and have worked to no end to remedy this problem across our nation’s southern ports of entry.

“But our community will still continue to suffer daily until we have all our original 300 CBP agents back at their posts in Laredo. Port Laredo processed approximately $235 billion in trade last year, an increase of 9.29% from the previous year. We are the second-largest port overall in the entire United States, and we continue to grow each year. As we continue to grow and invest in border infrastructure, we will need far more CBP agents than what we had even before this reassignment began.

“As a border mayor, I fully understand and support DHS’ mission to secure the border. That mission also includes our ports of entry where the majority of addictive and lethal drugs are smuggled in. Having less inspectors on the ports also puts our nation at risk.

“DHS and our federal government must rethink their solution to the migrant surge on the border because swapping one problem for another does no good for the American people.”