According to the El Paso Times, farmer-led blockades at El Paso ports of entry are expected to intensify, this time including non-commercial traffic, following Mexico’s passage of water rights laws.
The expanded blockades at the Tornillo and Zaragoza ports of entry are now slated to include both commercial and non-commercial traffic as farmers line up their tractors and farming vehicles across lanes.
Farmers had previously warned Mexican political officials that blockades would intensify if much stricter water usage measures were enacted. A delegation of farmers had traveled to Mexico City to negotiate with lawmakers on more acceptable water rights changes.
The costly measure puts a squeeze not only on much-needed commercial shipments to American production facilities but also on maquiladoras, or factories in Juárez, by blocking trucks carrying auto parts and other commercial equipment.
What was the new water proposal just passed?
Mexican farmers block the Zaragoza-Ysleta International Bridge in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. Agricultural machinery and tractors have been positioned at the crossing, halting commercial traffic for a third day. A line of tractor-trailers stretches for several kilometers as exports remain suspended. Only light vehicles are using alternate routes, facing significant delays. Protesters say the blockade will continue with no estimate for reopening.
The Cámara de Diputados, or Chamber of Deputies, approved a framework for the new General Water Law by a vote of 328 to 131. Changes include redefining the administration of water resources in Mexico and a concession that water rights cannot be transferred from individuals, such as farmers, to their children. Finally, Conagua, the agency tasked with allocating powers, will be in charge of reassigning them.
The new law now heads to the Mexican Senate for full approval.
Farmers claim that additional bureaucracy will only lead to more corruption, with officials pocketing the money meant to purchase water legally by farmers. They also claim that making it harder to pass on water rights to their families will endanger a number of farms in the country.
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“If we don’t have water, there is no agriculture, and without agriculture there is no food,” said representatives of Galeana and Samalayuca, who warned of possible effects on the national supply and the binational logistics chain.
How costly was the blockade at the ports of entry?
Mexican farmers block the Zaragoza-Ysleta International Bridge in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. Agricultural machinery and tractors have been positioned at the crossing, halting commercial traffic for a third day. A line of tractor-trailers stretches for several kilometers as exports remain suspended. Only light vehicles are using alternate routes, facing significant delays. Protesters say the blockade will continue with no estimate for reopening.
In response, charter airplanes flew out of Juárez carrying production goods that would normally arrive in the United States by overland travel in commercial trucks. That came at an estimated cost of $70,000 to $90,000 per flight, according to data from the National Association of Mexican Importers and Exporters.
The farmers removed their tractors and trucks from the Mexican side of the Marcelino Serna, Ysleta, Santa Teresa, Columbus, and Bridge of the Americas commercial ports late Thursday when their government promised a new law would not strip them of water rights nor pass those rights on to their children.
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During the full four days, nearly 300 farmers and agricultural workers from across Mexico took part in the blockades.
Source: El Paso Times
