Iowa’s congressional delegation and state leaders are pushing back against a Biden Administration decision to temporarily suspend major rail crossings along the nation’s southern border. The move took effect on Monday and resulted from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) decision to reassign Customs agents from the Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas crossings to illegal immigrant processing. The whole of Iowa’s congressional delegation penned a letter to President Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas pushing for these crossings to be reopened. The lawmakers note more than a third of the nation’s business with Mexico passes through these sites, and an estimated 60 engines and 4,500 cars, many of which are exporting grain products, sit idle for each day the railways are closed. A portion of the letter reads, “Iowa proudly leads the country in agriculture, with our farmers working day in, day out to feed and fuel the world. The importance of rail for transporting Iowa’s grain and agricultural products across the country cannot be overstated. Furthermore, one of every three planted acres in the U.S. is exported. Our agricultural exports support roughly one million U.S. jobs and 31 percent of our American farm income.” Gov. Kim Reynolds also weighs in on the closure, saying, “The Biden Administration is punishing Iowa farmers and American consumers by ignoring their constitutional duty to address the invasion of our country at the Southern border. Not only is the Biden Administration’s failure to act harming our national security, but now it is directly harming our nation’s economy as well. These railways must be reopened to allow the export of high-quality agriculture products.” A link to the delegation’s letter is included below.
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