Late last month, President Donald Trump issued a permit allowing Cameron County in the Rio Grande Valley to purchase an ownership stake in the Brownsville & Matamoros (B&M) International Bridge from Union Pacific Railroad. Officials are hailing the permit as a “historic milestone” that will enhance international trade in a region where global companies are investing billions of dollars in new commerce and industrial development.
The July 30 presidential permit was the final hurdle Cameron County needed to clear before completing the $33 million purchase of Union Pacific’s 50% ownership stake in the bridge. The remaining half is owned by the government of Mexico.
“This historic milestone marks an important step toward enhancing international trade, modernizing border infrastructure, and strengthening cross-border partnership for years to come,” Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. said on Facebook.
The B&M International Bridge is the oldest international bridge in the Valley. In 1909, two Mexican and American rail companies agreed to jointly build, own and operate a bridge spanning the Rio Grande between Brownsville and Matamoros. Construction took more than a year, and the bridge officially opened in December 1910. That now 116-year-old structure remains in use today as a freight rail bridge while a second, four-lane concrete bridge built in 1997 handles all other vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Cameron County already owns three other international bridges: Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates and Gateway International Bridge — both in Brownsville — and the Free Trade International Bridge in the town of Los Indios. In 2024, then-President Joe Biden issued a similar presidential permit authorizing the construction of a fourth, the Flor de Mayo International Bridge, which has yet to be built.
Between April and the end of June this year, more than 850,000 passenger vehicles and more than 76,000 commercial vehicles crossed the three county-owned bridges, generating more than $6.5 million in revenue, according to county records.
Adding B&M to the portfolio will create “a more efficient and connected international trade corridor that will strengthen Cameron County’s role as a premier gateway between the United States and Mexico,” said Cameron County Administrator Pete Sepulveda Jr.
The county’s historic deal to purchase the century-old bridge garnered bipartisan support from Republican U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz and from U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Brownsville.
Cameron County plans to pay for the $33 million purchase through revenue bonds — debt that will be repaid over time using toll crossing revenues. Once the ink is dry, the county will invest at least $5 million to modernize the bridge.
“Once the acquisition is complete, Cameron County plans to invest in targeted infrastructure and operational improvements” to the bridge’s toll collections and vehicle inspection technologies, and customs processing facilities, county officials said.