Laredo leaders say they weren't informed about closure of Border Patrol checkpoints

All checkpoints leading to the interior of the United States from Laredo were closed Friday night and unmanned for about 12 hours through Saturday morning, allowing people to potentially travel freely through them without being inspected.

These are not checkpoints directly on the border, rather ones that are already well within the United States on highways which act as an additional last line of defense — such as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Inspection Station checkpoint north of Laredo at mile marker 29 of Interstate 35, the highway that leads up to San Antonio.

Now nearly a week later, CBP still has yet to say just why that decision was made and who made it. And some local leaders seem to be as stumped as everyone else on how that could occur.

The closure of the checkpoints, which seems to have come in response to sending agents instead to Del Rio to assist with the migrant influx there, meant typical checks for those smuggling narcotics or people were not done.

Read more: https://www.lmtonline.com/insider/article/Laredo-leaders-say-they-weren-t-informed-about-16484543.php
(Laredo Morning Times)