Construction of the new border crossing cost more than $5 million and Border Patrol officials estimate it will cost $200,000 a year to maintain. The station was scheduled to open with little fanfare earlier this spring but was delayed until after the election.
The Obama administration is set to reopen a crossing station at the Texas and Mexico border that was closed after the September 11 terrorist attack for security concerns, yet is newly constructed to be monitored by customs and border officers stationed hundreds of miles away.
Federal officials estimate the Boquillas crossing located in the Big Bend National Park will accommodate 20,000 visitors a year, whose entry into the U.S. will by monitored by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers 300 miles away in El Paso through surveillance cameras that will observe kiosks where identification cards are scanned for access.
“Remote technology would assist CBP in maintaining security and verifying the identity of those entering the United States, while also ensuring that they possess proper documentation to do so,” said the Federal Register notice announcing the project.
Documentation required to cross the border include a passport, border-crossing card or permanent resident card.
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