U.S.to End Long Border Checks, Senator Says

The United States will end this weekend the lengthy inspection procedures that have paralyzed traffic along the U.S.-Mexican border and caused economic hardship for a week, Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Tex.) said today.

Bentsen said he received the assurance from U.S. Customs officials, in particular from Customs Service Congressional Affairs Director Richard Miller.

“From what I was told, you’re going to see this weekend a substantial reduction in the time” agents are taking to check cars crossing the border, Bentsen said.

The Customs Service said a final decision on the inspections could come late today or Saturday. Until then, a Customs statement said, “the intensified inspections will continue.”

Diplomatic Protest

On Thursday, Mexico outlined its irritation in a diplomatic note to the Reagan Administration. (Story on Page 9.)

The measures were instituted in the wake of the abduction of Enrique S. Camarena, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency official, in Guadalajara earlier this month. The State Department also is concerned about the disappearance of six other U.S. citizens who are thought to have been kidnaped in the same area of Mexico over the last few months.

Meanwhile, a group of congressmen who represent districts along the border also demanded an end to the checkpoint inspections.

Rep. Ron Coleman, a Democrat from El Paso, said the backup at the border has “paralyzed” commerce. He said Congress has been given no evidence that the inspections have aided the search for Camarena.