Posted on 03/22/2007 9:31:11 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Mexican trucks could have to wait longer than anticipated to haul freight deep into the United States.
The Bush administration in February announced that it would soon allow 100 Mexican trucking companies to travel beyond the current 20-mile limit for a one-year pilot project.
But a Senate panel on Thursday voted to delay the plan by requiring the administration to publish details about it and giving the public time to comment on it. The action came as part of a supplemental spending bill to pay for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The administration is rushing to open the border to Mexican-domiciled trucks without assuring their safety and enforcement of the law of the U.S.," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. "They can't go rushing forward in opening the border without having explained what their pilot project is."
The Transportation Department said it is committed to moving forward with the program and will work with lawmakers to address their concerns.
"The Mexican trucking demonstration program will bring real benefits and real dollars to the American economy while maintaining all U.S. safety and security standards," the department said in a statement.
Democratic Sens. Byron Dorgan (news, bio, voting record) of North Dakota, Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record) of California and Patty Murray (news, bio, voting record) of Washington sponsored the amendment.
"There still remain very significant safety issues," Dorgan said.
He also criticized the Bush administration for opening the border to Mexican trucks before Mexico opened the border to U.S. trucks. "They were going to implement these plans for Mexican long-haul trucks in a way that was at odds with how the Mexicans were going to treat American truckers," Dorgan said.
The move to delay the administration plan was welcomed by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
"This is an important first step in our fight to ensure the safety and security of America's highways," said Teamsters spokeswoman Leigh Strope.
Access to all U.S. highways was promised by 2000 under the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, as was access through Mexico for U.S. carriers.
That aspect of NAFTA, however, was stalled by lawsuits and disagreements between the two countries, though Canadian and U.S. trucks travel freely across the northern border.
The Bush pilot project will let Mexican truck companies travel from Mexico throughout the United States and back. No hazardous material shipments will be permitted.
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On the Net:
Transportation Department: http://www.dot.gov
Establishing a trading block is one thing, diluting our culture and laws with an open border is another. I understand what you are saying, the dollar has fallen against the Euro and this will lower our standard of living. Depressing wages with cheap, imported labor has the same net effect in living standards except there are more collateral issues to deal with. Sound fiscal policy would do far more for the dollar then creating a slave labor class.
Don't forget Public Citizen. Isn't that Ralph Nader's group?
Hopefully in a safe vehicle, with proper insurance, with an understanding of our laws - and consideration for them.
Hopefully, having been inspected at the border and, ideally, not willing and able to haul ass back to mexico after any altercation, accident, or infringement.
Maybe next vacation you could come out this way and spend some time on the freeways with both the mexican trucks and the mexican truck drivers we deal with daily.
You sure are naive.
If the Teamsters were give an inside track at organizing the Mexican drivers, those trucks would be rolling tommorrow.
Agreed, the structures are not the same between our countries.
What will become of our constitution? Second ammendment will have to be gone. Lose that and you've lost.
Period.
If you think these trucks are only coming 100 miles into the country, I don't think you've done your homework. That 16 lane super-highway proposed from the Mexican border to Kansas City is more than 100 miles long, I believe. Also, they don't need a freeway several football fields wide to just accommodate just 100 trucking companies. They're building a superport in Mexico that's going to suck all the Pacific shipping into Mexico instead of our own West Coast ports. Also, there will be thousands of places for those trucks to stop and unload their drugs, contraband and Illegals before they get to Kansas City. The trucks and their contents will not be inspected until they reach Kansas City (if they haven't emptied out the contents well before then.
2 truck drivers charged with smuggling migrants (Here comes the Mexican Trucks!! filled with goods)
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_5510822
Two truckers were arrested and a "drop house" was raided in immigrant smuggling cases in the El Paso area this week, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman said on Friday.
On Wednesday morning, the Border Enforcement Security Task Force, or BEST, stopped two 18-wheelers on Interstate 10 near Vado after agents spotted the drivers letting two men into one cab and another man into the other cab at a truck stop, ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said.
The three immigrants, found hiding in the sleeper sections, told investigators they each paid $1,800 to be smuggled to Los Angeles. Truck drivers Julio Cesar Cazabal Gutierrez, 34, and Javier Nolasco Sanchez, 26, were arrested on charges of conspiracy to transport undocumented aliens, which is punishable by up to five years in prison.
On Tuesday, ICE agents discovered 16 immigrants in an apartment in the 1100 block of Seventh Street in El Paso's Segundo Barrio, officials said. Agents arrested alleged smugglers Iris Guereca, 20, of El Paso, and Rene Raul Taylor Lopez, 20, and Francisco Alejandro Lopez Vasquez, 21, who are Mexican citizens in the U.S. illegally.
The immigrants were from the Mexico City area and paid $1,500 to $2,000 to be taken to California, Wisconsin and other states, officials said.
Most of the immigrants were returned to Mexico.
Just wait for the trans-texas corridor. They'll use their 'fast pass' and the open border pipeline will become a floodgate.
"One is to let the Mexican trucks from only 100 controlled companies into the country"
FYI, they are "cherry picking" the companies that are allowed in.
FYI, the current reg's permit a 20 mile "free Trade" zone that foreign trucks may operate in. BUT, there are loopholes in that and, the "effective" area is actually 100 miles.
FYI, I DO NOT support this action, by any stretch of the imagination. Just presenting some facts. However the reg's, current and proposed, only allow for one way trips. That is...they may bring freight to deliver here, and pick up a load that delivers in Mexico, they may not "operate" here. Same rules apply to Canadians, and to Americans operating on foreign soil. Problem is the Canadians have shown, and I would imagine we do it as well, they can violate this reg. without any worry of being caught, at all. Why would the Mexicans be any different?
In case some of you haven't noticed, the U.S. is now officially a "consumer" Nation. We consume MORE than we produce. This puts us in a very, very, bad spot.
We need to bring back more manufacturing into our Country. We need to take another look at "free trade" that is not "free". The rules are so lopsided against us, it's sickening.
:O)
P
We would leave Michigan with trailers loaded with GM piece parts to drag back to our Laredo terminal so a Mexican driver could take the trailer south of the border so Mexican labor could build more sub-assemblies so we could drag them back to Michigan.
It was a never ending cycle. Now you know one of the big reasons your two thousand dollar Chevy cost you twenty thousand dollars today.
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