Transmigrante rumors cause headaches in Presidio

A transmigrante with a vehicle for resale in tow. Debates and rumors over transmigrantes — traveling Central American merchants who buy used goods in the United States and resell them back home — have been causing worry in Presidio city. Photo by Sara Button for The Big Bend Sentinel.

PRESIDIO — After months of bracing for a proposed “transmigrante” route through Presidio/Ojinaga, the lack of concrete information coming from the Mexican government appears to be taking its toll on officials in Presidio city.

First, there was the news story that came out earlier this month in El Siglo de Torréon, a city newspaper in Coahuila State. The paper reported on February 9 that all transmigrante traffic — and not just some or most of it — would be diverted from the Los Indios port of entry in South Texas to Presidio/Ojinaga after a route through Tamaulipas State was reportedly set to close.

Transmigrantes, for those who haven’t been following these developments, are Central American merchants who buy large items (like car parts and washing machines) in the United States and resell them back home. They aren’t allowed to sell their goods in Mexico, where the government funnels them onto set routes. And officials there have for years floated the idea of opening a new route in Presidio/Ojinaga.

The news article cited Julio Almanza Armas, a high-ranking Mexican official in Tamaulipas State, who himself cited Juan Carlos Loera de la Rosa, a high-ranking official in Chihuahua State. The men said the Matamoros/Los Indios corridor would be “moved” to Ojinaga and that Mexican federal officials would not allow Matamoros brokers to continue handling the program after they “monopolized and corrupted this activity.”

Loera de la Rosa has not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Big Bend Sentinel, including on his social media accounts (where he frequently posts messages to Mexican citizens) or at his office (where the phone number listed on his government website was not working at last attempt). And with Presidio city officials saying they’ve still received no announcements from the Mexican federal government regarding such a new trade policy, it’s unclear if the report was anything more than rumors.

Doubts were raised further after The Big Bend Sentinel spoke last week with Rick Cavazos, the mayor pro tem of Los Indios. Asked about rumors that the Los Indios transmigrante route could be closing, Cavazos said: “We hear that, and then it kind of fades off.” He was skeptical that his town would stop serving as a hub for transmigrantes. “They’re lined up to go south as we speak,” he said.

But with the news breaking just days before Presidio city council was set to once again discuss the issue, the report caused yet more frustration and anxiety in Presidio. “I am greatly concerned,” Presidio Mayor John Ferguson said in a lengthy social media post about the article.

Last Wednesday, February 12, Presidio City Council publicly met for at least the third time this year to discuss transmigrantes. With still nothing from the Mexican government, the meeting had a déjà vu quality to it. Presidio city officials stressed they had no new updates from Mexico and discussed their plans for a municipally-owned parking lot to accommodate the traveling merchants. City Administrator Joe Portillo showed news videos chronicling the impacts of transmigrantes on Los Indios, as he did at a previous meeting.

Then, tempers started to flare. Alcee Tavarez, mayor pro tem for Presidio, admonished Portillo and other city officials for continuing to present “problems — not solutions.”

“Mr. Portillo, with all due respect, you need to get off your you-know-what,” Tavarez said at the meeting. “You just showed us two videos about people getting killed. Are you trying to scare us, or what?”

“I haven’t seen a solution,” Alvarez added. “We’re waiting on you. I think we’ve told you in the past what we wanted.”

Portillo gently pushed back. He said he was waiting on approval from Presidio city leaders to develop a transmigrante plan. “I want guidance here,” he said. “Show me where you want to go with this.”

“Like I said, we just keep kicking the can down the road,” Tavarez said.

Portillo again stressed that he was devising a plan and just needed approval from the city. “I know what I want,” he said. “I think there should be a municipal parking lot, and I think the city should manage it.”

Portillo then expressed frustrations at the city’s drawn-out debates over that proposed parking lot, which has been bogged down by criticisms — particularly from Solitaire Homes representative H. Cowan — that the proposal infringes on private enterprise.

“This plan will not work if we allow the private sector to compete with us,” Portillo said. “If we get only a fraction of [the transmigrante parking customers], it’s not going to work. If we start piecemealing it — if we allow a small parking lot here and a small parking lot there — it’s not going to work.”

Mayor John Ferguson jumped in to defuse the situation. He defended Portillo, noting that the lack of information from the Mexican government (and not Portillo) was the cause for delays.

“We’re pretty sure this is going to happen, but still to date, we don’t have anything that justifies saying: ‘Joe, go to the bank and line up a loan,’” Ferguson said. “It’s a real head scratcher.”

Later, Ferguson also decried the “noticeable absence of federal authorities on our side.” It was a stark contrast to the situation in Mexico, he said, where Mexican federal officials (and not Ojinaga city leaders) appeared to be taking charge of the issue.

Calling out retiring Congressman Will Hurd by name, Ferguson said there was a “complete void” of help coming from the federal and state government. “Why isn’t there somebody on this side saying: ‘No, hang on a second, we’ve got to get things ready before we start doing this,’?” he said. “We’re on our own. It’s like we’re calling for help.”

In the end, the city council meeting made progress. In a unanimous vote, council members authorized City Administrator Joe Portillo to start formulating more detailed plans for dealing with traffic and other effects from transmigrantes. The city also agreed to host one or several workshops with state and federal officials to discuss the issue. At press time, there was not yet a set date for that.

Then, on Tuesday, another Mexican news story came out.

This one — from Milenio, a national paper — was light on details, but it appeared to throw cold water on the idea that the Los Indios transmigrante route was closing. The article said that Mexican officials would “reorganize [the] transmigrante agreement” but implied that traffic would continue through Tamaulipas. It cited Armas, the high-ranking official in that state.