Trade Border businesses see some relief in the future

Trade: Grants, Federal Loans Offered to Companies And Groups Suffering Economic Hardships

Local merchants along the U.S./Mexico border continue to suffer from slow business from the aftermath of Sept. 11, but some relief appears to be on the way.

Because of the long wait to get across the border due to heightened security, many Mexican customers have chosen not to cross.

To help businesses and communities along the border, some low-interest loans are available. Also, the agencies guarding the border , the Immigration and Naturalization Service and U.S. Customs Service , will get some help that will allow for more lanes of traffic to be open.

“The uncertainty means people who can legally cross are not,” said Rep. Bob Filner, D-Chula Vista. He said some border merchants have seen 50 to 90 percent drops in business.

Carlos Vasquez, president of the San Ysidro Business Improvement District, said, “I think we’re still in that hold mode. We’re waiting to see what happens with holiday shopping and travel.”

Vasquez sells Mexican insurance to American tourists for Baja-Mex Insurance Services Inc., and his family owns the Frontier Motel in San Ysidro.

Though the wait to cross the border into the United States is significantly shorter than the weeks right after Sept. 11, Vasquez said, Mexican customers think the wait is still four to five hours.

Filner said crossing the border should be faster, but at the same time, the high level of security needs to be maintained.

According to Filner, 100 new inspectors would be needed at the San Ysidro border crossing in order to open all 24 lanes of traffic all day, which would cost an additional $6 million per year. To provide inspectors needed at all Mexican border crossings from San Ysidro into Texas, the cost would be $20 million per year.

Filner said he and other members of Congress are trying to have funding added to a supplemental bill for the Homeland Security Act, which was approved after Sept. 11, in order to provide additional inspectors at the border with Mexico.

Since the terrorist attacks, the INS has had to conform to new requirements at the border.

Vince Bond, public affairs officer for customs in San Diego, said the local Customs Service has seen a trickling in of new inspectors. But Bond said those people were being trained for those positions before Sept. 11.

Kevin Bell, a Customs spokesman in Washington D.C., said the anti-terrorism bill signed several weeks ago by President George W. Bush, authorizes a tripling of inspectors at the Canadian border, but does not address the Mexican border.

Inspectors from other areas and National Guard troops have already been deployed to the northern border, where some border crossings used to have only one inspector on duty at a time, Bell said.

There are normally about 2,000 inspectors working at the southern border and 1,400 at the northern border, he said.

Lauren Mack, a public affairs officer for the INS in San Diego, said additional federal law enforcement staff have helped with security at the U.S./Mexico border.

Last week, 20 Border Patrol agents were assigned to the San Ysidro border crossing so more lanes could be opened.

The Border Patrol duty is for only 30 days, then the program will be evaluated and the INS will decide whether to continue the program, Mack said. Also, some additional INS detention officers and special agents are being cross-trained to help with inspections.

Even before Sept. 11, the INS was recruiting new border inspectors, Mack said. The number changes frequently, but on average about 50 new inspectors are needed for all of the California/Mexico ports of entry, she said.

The INS expects to have many of those positions filled by spring. The agency is expecting some slots to be filled soon by people who are in training or are waiting for background checks to be completed.

Up to 20 of the 24 lanes at San Ysidro have been open during the morning rush hour recently, Mack said. Almost all eight pedestrian lanes have also been open in the morning.

At Otay Mesa, all 13 lanes are now open during the morning rush hour, usually between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m.

“The aim is to draw some of the San Ysidro traffic over to Otay,” Mack said.

Surprisingly, Mack said, Otay Mesa has not had much pedestrian traffic, probably due to a lack of public transportation at that border crossing.

Filner held an event in San Ysidro for Nov. 19 where businesses and community organizations could learn about disaster relief funds they might be eligible for, from the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Economic Development Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The EDA provides grants to community organizations in cities suffering from disasters. Groups can to apply for that funding, not individual businesses.

“The SBA has a very significant disaster loan program. In San Diego, not many people are aware of it,” said George Chandler, the SBA’s district director.

The Economic Injury Disaster Loan, which could benefit local border businesses, has been expanded to cover any businesses that may have been adversely affected, either directly by Sept. 11 or by the actions taken by the federal government after that date, like tightened security at the border.

The low-interest loans, which can be up to $1.5 million, have a 4 percent interest rate. The loan terms can be for up to 30 years. The application deadline is Jan. 12.

“The loan can be used to make payments or expenditures that the business would normally be able to make itself,” Chandler said. The loan program does not cover lost income or profits, but money can be used to refinance existing long-term debt, purchase fixed assets, or to expand a business.

This is the first time in the history of the program that it has been expanded beyond the region physically impacted by a disaster, Chandler said.

For information on the SBA’s program, or to request an application, call the SBA Disaster Area 4 office at (800) 488-5323.