McAllen sees a 28 percent drop in border crossings. Its EDC leader says the city will ‘pivot and adjust.’

MCALLEN, Texas – The leader of McAllen Economic Development Corporation and McAllen Chamber of Commerce says she is not fazed by a 28 percent drop in border crossings at the Hidalgo International Bridge.

Elizabeth Suarez first announced the sharp decline on KURV Radio. She confirmed the statistic in an interview with the Rio Grande Guardian. Suarez said the 28 percent drop occurred in March, 2025, when compared to the same month in 2024.

Asked about it, Suarez said: “We do see consumer behavior changing. The trend line is a bit different than what we’ve normally seen. When we look at March over March, yeah, there is a bit of a slowdown. It’s one month. When we look at the cumulative period, we’re still trending upward.”

Suarez said the important thing is to “try to figure out what is coming.” 

She said: “My messaging yesterday (on KURV) was that we speak to the numbers so that we’re in front of it, before it continues on a downturn and we’re shocked by it. Our goal is to be honest with our community, that they know what the numbers are looking like, that we are able to pivot and adjust as quickly as possible so that we again can highlight all of the opportunities that people have when they shop, when they visit, or when they set business up in McAllen.”

The Guardian spoke to one McAllen hotelier and he said the decline in border crossings can put down almost exclusively to longer wait times over the past few months. At the request of President Trump, President Sheinbaum deployed thousands of soldiers to land ports of entry to check for fentanyl being smuggled by car into the United States. The checks had added long wait times for cars headed northbound, even in the early hours of the morning.

Suarez said she does not have the data to be able to explain what has caused the downturn. 

“What I can tell you is that what we’re feeling on the business side is we’re in a transition process as we work through a new process. As we work through the geopolitical situation we’re going to be navigating something new,” Suarez said.

“And so we did hear that there was increased checks on the Mexico side of the border. We did hear that there were long lines. I think that varies day to day. I’ll tell you, yesterday, I was with maquiladoras in Rio Bravo, and I waited not even 20 minutes to cross into the McAllen area. So it depends.”

Suarez continued: “I think at the end of the day, we’re in a transition mode and for us, on the city side, on the chamber side, on the economic development side, it’s ears to the ground, working very closely with business more than ever, and then taking advantage of the opportunities that we have to collaborate internationally, statewide, to really continue to work and grow our region.” 

Asked whether she thought the drop in border crossings in March was an aberration and that there will be a rebound in the April, May and June numbers, Suarez said:

“I don’t know. We don’t know. That’s the story, right? We are working through a geopolitical transition, and we are going to try to stay close to the business community to understand what those trends are.”

In the interview, Suarez also spoke about the growth of the housing market and the fact that McAllen has a highly trained workforce. She also previewed the MxLAN Economic Summit that takes place at the McAllen Convention Center on Friday, May 9. 

Here is a video recording of the interview:

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