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Border & Immigration

New Truck Inspection Facility Could Reduce Border Wait Times

Hundreds of unidentified migrants are buried in this Imperial County cemetery, June 28, 2016.
Matthew Bowler
Hundreds of unidentified migrants are buried in this Imperial County cemetery, June 28, 2016.

U.S. and Mexican officials say border wait times will decrease thanks to a new cargo pre-inspection facility unveiled Tuesday.

CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske points to first shipment at cargo pre-inspection facility in Tijuana, Jan. 12, 2015.
Jean Guerrero
CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske points to first shipment at cargo pre-inspection facility in Tijuana, Jan. 12, 2015.
New Truck Inspection Facility Could Reduce Border Wait Times
Customs officials from Mexico and the U.S. are working together in Tijuana to fast-track inspection of certain agricultural shipments.

Customs officials from both nations will work side-by-side to inspect certain agricultural shipments at the new facility, located in the Mesa de Otay section of Tijuana.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said the newly launched pilot program will decrease traffic and make trade between the U.S. and Mexico cheaper and more efficient.

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"It's important that we coordinate with our international partners not only as governments, but also as trade stakeholders," he said.

Mexico's finance minister Luis Videgaray, another speaker at the event, said facilitating exports had become an economic priority for Mexico.

The program — the second of three planned for the U.S.-Mexico border — required Mexico to change its firearms law to permit foreign immigration officials to carry guns on Mexican soil.

Officials said the value of trade between the U.S. and Mexico adds up to about $1.45 billion dollars each day.