El Paso border leaders seek clarity ahead of investment

El Paso functions as a gateway between the U.S. and Mexico, a key port for international trade and migration. As the only location for the Federal Reserve on the U.S. southern border, the Dallas Fed El Paso branch serves an important role tracking the U.S.-Mexico economy and connecting with our No. 1 trading partner.

On her most recent Listening in 360 visit to El Paso, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan focused on learning about the state of the border economy and meeting with business and community leaders in both El Paso and Juarez, Mexico. She heard about:

• A cross-border manufacturing industry on the brink of growth but waiting for clarity about trade policy.
• Manufacturing leaders considering how to incorporate artificial intelligence into their workflows.
• A construction industry dominated by data center buildout, with strained resources for other types of development.

Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan and Senior Vice President Roberto Coronado tour the floor of a Siemens manufacturing plant in Juarez.

Juarez manufacturing faces uncertainty

Across the border from El Paso, Juarez is a manufacturing city in transition. Mexico’s sixth-largest city long functioned as a manufacturing hub for the transportation industry, with factories that operate duty-free under a Mexican government program representing most of the city’s formal employment.

But as manufacturers transition to serve high-tech industries, automation is beginning to edge out some of the labor-intensive operations. Juarez has lost tens of thousands of factory jobs over the past few years. That’s important to El Paso because cross-border factories are designed to make parts that are exported, often heading to the U.S. for final production.

On a visit to a Siemens plant, President Logan learned about the facility’s residential breaker-box production and met with Juarez business leaders. They said uncertainty about trade policy, long border-crossing wait times and a lack of local infrastructure are constraining their growth.

UTEP President Heather Wilson speaks during a moderated conversation with President Logan.

President Logan, UTEP President Wilson discuss U.S.-Mexico economy

University of Texas at El Paso President Heather Wilson hosted President Logan for a conversation about the Dallas Fed and its work in El Paso.

They discussed the U.S.-Mexico economic relationship and its significant role in shaping cross-border trade and supply chain dynamics, and President Logan offered her current view on monetary policy.

This is not the first time you’ve been to El Paso. Sometimes in El Paso, we are used to being overlooked a little bit, even in Texas, and I very much appreciate you being here and spending a couple of days listening to and learning about what’s going on.

UTEP President Heather Wilson

El Paso branch cultivates deep regional roots

Meeting with business and academic leaders in El Paso and Juarez offers Dallas Fed leaders unique insight on trade, migration and energy production. The location on the border and near the Permian Basin puts the cities at the crossroads of critical trends impacting the U.S. economy.

Cultivating relationships in the El Paso community helps President Logan formulate her views on monetary policy and fully represent the region at Federal Open Market Committee meetings in Washington. During her visit, she welcomed Arturo Barrio, a new executive charged with leading community engagement in the El Paso region.

President Logan meets Juarez business leaders at a roundtable hosted by Siemens.

President Logan speaks with former El Paso board member Von Washington at the UTEP event.

President Logan speaks to Icela García, plant manager for a Siemens maquila in Juarez.

President Logan meets with business leaders in El Paso and Juarez.

What to know about El Paso

• Twenty percent of U.S. trade with Mexico goes through El Paso.
• The Permian Basin supplies 48 percent of U.S. oil production.
• The El Paso metro area has two top-tier research universities: UTEP and New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
• One in four jobs created in El Paso is a result of Mexico’s manufacturing program.
• Learn more about the El Paso economy in the Dallas Fed’s At the Heart of Texas reference guide.

El Paso employment up 2 percent in first quarter 2026

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