From left to right: Royal Jones, President and CEO of Mesilla Valley Transportation; Ricardo Mora, President and CEO of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce; Paul Dipp, President of Economy Wholesale Grocers. for the local real estate market and retail market.

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Leaders with the El Paso Chamber of Commerce are calling on local, state and federal officials to stop the closure of commercial traffic at the Bridge of the Americas, saying this will push El Paso back economically and environmentally.

Ricardo Mora, president and CEO of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce, was joined by Royal Jones, CEO and president of Mesilla Valley Transportation, and Paul Dipp, president of Economy Wholesale Grocers, for a news conference on Wednesday.

From left to right: Royal Jones, President and CEO of Mesilla Valley Transportation; Ricardo Mora, President and CEO of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce; Paul Dipp, President of Economy Wholesale Grocers. for the local real estate market and retail market.

“This modernization of Bridge of the Americas should be a major opportunity for El Paso. Instead, the current plan will set us back both environmentally and economically. Nobody wins here,” Mora said. “Some local and state officials pushing this plan do not seem to care about the irreversible damage that will be caused to our economy, and we do. We will not stand for it.”

This comes after the Chamber commissioned and funded a study by the Hunt Institute for Global Competitiveness at UTEP about how much the commercial traffic ban at BOTA would affect El Paso.

According to the study, about $2.3 billion would be lost in economic output, over 9,500 jobs would be lost and $601 million would be lost in labor income in El Paso County, between 2028 and 2036.


Chamber: No commercial traffic at BOTA would hurt region

“Bridge of the Americas is the region’s only toll-free port of entry. That is very important for commerce in this community. BOTA handled $12 billion of two-way truck trade in 2025 alone. And yet, we’re closing commercial traffic,” Mora said.

Mora added that 10.9% of commercial trade could go to other border regions, making El Paso less competitive and even causing some companies to relocate. He emphasized that in just one year, El Paso will lose $36.6 billion.

Additionally, BOTA ranks second among major U.S.-Mexico border points of entry in both truck export value and commercial crossing growth.

“In total, regardless, this is a mistake. Our community needs to wake up,” Mora said.

While construction has not started, the work is expected to start by mid-2028.


BOTA closing will worsen air pollution in Juarez, Lower Valley

Mora stated that the Chamber has communicated with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) at both local and federal levels, but the decision record indicated a continuation of the removal of commercial traffic on BOTA.

Jones added that El Paso is continuing to grow because of trade.

“Everything in El Paso is just growing and growing all because of this trade. We cannot stop it. This is the most efficient trade that we have at any border,” Jones said. “It’s billions of dollars a year in trade that will be lost and money that will be lost that was created here and now over a stupid bridge and fixing it. Fix up the bridge but leave it for truck traffic. It can all be done.”

Dipp echoed Jones’ words, saying the commercial traffic ban “makes no sense.”

“This situation, if it happens, if our six lanes of commercial traffic close, it’s going to reduce our capacity for the commercial lanes by 40%. This will have a permanent and irreversible damage to the regional economy. I’m talking about more than just El Paso, Texas. We’re talking about the state of Texas, the state of the region that we’re living in, including New Mexico, and of course, the state of Chihuahua and Juarez,” Dipp said.

Dipp also proposed to rename BOTA to the Donald J. Trump Bridge of the Americas.

“In recognition of President Trump’s commitment to American industry and to bringing domestic manufacturing back as one our nation’s greatest strengths. A modernized bridge that keeps this trade moving would be a fitting monument to his vision,” he said.

If the BOTA commercial traffic ban becomes a reality, Mora says there are solutions in place for the continuing trade.

“If commercial traffic were to be removed from Bridge of the Americas, we are also working with partners and we’re working through our legislative agenda, which will be the 90th session. We’re working to try and get funding for Bridge of Zaragoza because we want to make that bridge better. We’re looking into the future, working with the MPO on potential modeling for a new bridge that could solve this,” Mora said.