PRESIDIO — At last week’s Commissioners Court meeting, some public officials expressed concern about an ordinance to regulate transmigrante businesses along Highway 67. Meeting attendees felt that they did not receive adequate notice to review the proposed ordinance and worried that they unfairly targeted transmigrantes in an effort to beautify the road leading into Presidio.
Transmigrante brokers entered the scene in 2021 after much discussion and consternation among public officials. The businesses — which hire drivers to tow vehicles, appliances and other goods through Mexico and into Central America — stage their wares just outside of town, where the transmigrantes themselves can stay and rest along their long journeys south.
Only a few ports of entry in Texas are authorized for transmigrante traffic, and the companies set their sights on Presidio after safety concerns about spikes in violence in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. There are currently five transmigrante companies in Presidio which have continued to grow since the port was approved as a crossing point.
After criticism by business owners and County Attorney-elect Blair Park, current County Attorney Rod Ponton said he’d like to complete his revisions to the proposed ordinance next week.
The Sentinel did not receive a copy of the ordinance by press time for last week’s issue, but Ponton took the time to outline his vision. For years, he’s been one of a few public officials concerned about junk piling up by the side of the road into town — numerous junkyards, abandoned structures and other eyesores line the highway. “I’m proud of Presidio, and I want Presidio to look nice,” he said.
Part of the issue is that the county does not have a code enforcement officer to issue citations under the current junk vehicle ordinance, which applies to abandoned or inoperable vehicles parked long-term. Ponton’s ordinance would go beyond the junk vehicle regulations to address what he believes are health and safety issues that have fallen through the cracks. “There’s not just junk vehicles,” he said. “They’re providing housing, they’re providing food. They’ve got unlicensed septic facilities and unlicensed water.”
Presidio Mayor John Ferguson has been in support of trying to beautify Highway 67 but felt that the ordinance could unfairly target transmigrantes — who are not responsible for all of the junkyards or decaying buildings by the side of the road. “As mayor I want to be a part of this discussion and to treat everybody equitably and fairly,” he said.
While Ferguson was initially skeptical of the businesses moving to Presidio, he did say that he’d seen area businesses benefit — and by extension, the city, via sales tax. Two brokers operate within the bounds of the city’s ETJ, or “extra-territorial jurisdiction,” which encapsulates a handful of businesses on the fringes of town. The others lie beyond city limits, on county land. “It always comes down to who’s going to enforce it,” he said.
So far, Ferguson said, the city and the transmigrantes had been able to come together to solve issues — when residents voiced concerns that vehicles were piling up and blocking traffic during peak crossing times at the bridge, both entities found a solution. He was frustrated that the burden fell on the city and the county to work through these issues, rather than the state and national agencies responsible for the highway and the port of entry.
As of last Wednesday’s draft, the ordinance requires existing and future transmigrante brokers to consult with county engineer Ruben Carrasco on a number of issues, including ingress and egress from the highway. Businesses will also be required to cover up their fences to obscure the compounds from the road.
Ponton denied that he was unfairly focusing on the transmigrantes and letting others off the hook. “I’m not trying to pick on businesses,” he said.
Erick Prieto, owner of Servicios Administrativos Aduanales del Desierto (SAAD), said that not much had transpired since the meeting but that he felt officials had taken note. “We hope that everything continues to go as well as it has,” he said.