NPR for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Border Crossing To Reopen

By Hern?n Rozemberg

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-943910.mp3

San Antonio, TX – The U.S. government will reopen an informal crossing with Mexico at Big Bend National Park that was closed years ago due to security concerns. From the Fronteras: Changing America Desk, Hern n Rozemberg reports.

The sparsely populated stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border along the Big Bend area has no official ports of entry. The government shuttered several informal crossings after the 9-11 attacks. But interest in the creation of a binational preservation area prompted a push by the National Park Service to reopen the once-popular Boquillas passage. Bill Brooks is the spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Big Bend.

Brooks: It was done at the request of the park service. For a number of years, they've been working with the Mexican government and people in Mexico who had a vested interest in trying to establish some form of environmentally-sensitive area along the river.

Brooks did not know when the crossing will reopen or whether it will be a more formal setting than in years past. Details of the project will be announced at a news conference at Big Bend National Park on Thursday.