U.S. Customs and Border Protection to Close Border at Eagle Pass & El Paso

Announcement Number: CN2023-66
Categories: General Announcements
Posted Date: December 17, 2023

To Our Customers,

We were notified today that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agency will be closing train traffic at Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, tomorrow morning, December 18, 2023. The closures are due to the migrant crisis at the border. Union Pacific’s other gateways cannot handle the extra traffic and we will issue embargoes at both gateways with the effective time forthcoming.

We will remain in constant communication with CBP and will continue normal operations at our other gateways. Additionally, we have increased our resources at the border and have offered CBP additional assistance to remain vigilant at addressing the migrant crisis. With more than one third of our Mexico business interchanged at these combined gateways, this closure by the CBP negatively impacts trade between Mexico and the U.S.

Any trains already enroute are being staged, while any others impacted by the gateway closures are being held at origin to alleviate congestion near the border. Once the gateways reopen, our goal is to quickly get trains launched and restore cross-border movement.

Please reference our Embargo page or the AAR Embargo System for additional details. If you have any questions, please contact Customer Care & Support at 800-272-8777 or your Union Pacific representative.