The machine layer

The Data
Endpoints.

Every figure on this desk is served as JSON at the same moment it is drawn on a chart. Here is each endpoint, what it returns, where the numbers come from, how often it refreshes, and what its timestamp actually means. No key, no sign-up, no rate limit beyond common sense.

Read from this page, just now8 routes · reading

/api/corridorqueued
/api/livequeued
/api/bridgesqueued
/api/portsqueued
/api/usmxqueued
/api/crossingsqueued
/api/signalsqueued
/api/lab-statsqueued

Latency is measured from your browser. Routes are cached at the edge, so a warm read is fast; a cold one waits on the agency.

Before you build on it

These endpoints exist so an analyst, a student, or a model can read the same numbers the dashboards read. They are cached at the edge, so a request costs the source agency nothing. Please cache on your side too, and keep the attribution below with anything you publish.

Every payload carries its own stamp. When a source cannot supply a figure, the field comes back null. The desk never fills a gap with a placeholder, so treat null as "not published yet," not as zero.

The endpoints

8 open JSON routes

GET/api/corridor

Laredo corridor

Monthly BTS crossing counts for Port Laredo (trucks, trains, personal vehicles, pedestrians), live CBP wait times for every Laredo crossing, and the trailing-12-month truck ranking across all U.S.-Mexico ports.

updatedtrucks[]{m,v}trains[]cars[]peds[]crossings[]{name,truck,pass}ranking[]{name,v,pct}stats{latest,yoy,ttm}ttms{}

Cache cadence: Revalidated every 30 minutes. BTS series cached 6 hours, CBP waits 10 minutes.
Timestamp: updated is the moment this payload was assembled, in ISO 8601 UTC. Monthly series carry their own reference month in m (YYYY-MM).
Sources: BTS Border Crossing Entry Data, CBP Border Wait Times
Dashboard: /corridor

curl -s https://labs.drdanielcovarrubias.com/api/corridor

Your browser reads this route when the page loads.

GET/api/live

Live pulse

The two figures the desk refreshes on every page: the World Trade Bridge commercial wait and the peso/USD rate.

updatedbridge{wait,min,name,status,asOf}fx{mxn,date,src}

Cache cadence: Revalidated every 10 minutes. FX cached 1 hour.
Timestamp: bridge.asOf is CBP's own lane stamp, not our fetch time. fx.date is the rate's reference date. A figure the source cannot supply comes back null, never a placeholder.
Sources: CBP Border Wait Times, Banco de México FIX (or ECB reference rate)

curl -s https://labs.drdanielcovarrubias.com/api/live

Your browser reads this route when the page loads.

GET/api/bridges

Every crossing

CBP wait times for every U.S.-Mexico crossing, normalized, with the busiest commercial crossing called out.

updatedsourcecrossingCountcommercialOpenbusiestports[]

Cache cadence: Revalidated every 10 minutes.
Timestamp: updated is the assembly time in ISO 8601 UTC; each port carries CBP's own lane stamp.
Sources: CBP Border Wait Times
Dashboard: /bridges

curl -s https://labs.drdanielcovarrubias.com/api/bridges

Your browser reads this route when the page loads.

GET/api/ports

Ports by trade value

Top 5 U.S. ports of entry by total trade value over a rolling 12 months, plus the top HS2 commodity chapters crossing Port Laredo in each direction.

updatedlivekeyPresentperiodsourceports[]{name,v,hero}commoditiesImports[]commoditiesExports[]

Cache cadence: Revalidated daily.
Timestamp: period is the 12-month window in human form. live is false when the payload is the filed seed rather than a fresh Census pull.
Sources: U.S. Census international trade (port and HS2 detail)
Dashboard: /corridor

curl -s https://labs.drdanielcovarrubias.com/api/ports

Your browser reads this route when the page loads.

GET/api/usmx

U.S.-Mexico border by port

Trade value for all U.S.-Mexico land ports of entry, by port and by state, with the truck-crossing series behind it.

liveupdatedperiodsourcegrandTotalByoyports[]{name,state,totalB,importsB,exportsB,share}byState[]series[]crossings{}

Cache cadence: Revalidated daily.
Timestamp: period names the reference window. live false means the filed seed is being served.
Sources: U.S. Census international trade, BTS Border Crossing Entry Data
Dashboard: /us-mexico-border

curl -s https://labs.drdanielcovarrubias.com/api/usmx

Your browser reads this route when the page loads.

GET/api/crossings

Truck crossings, border-wide

One headline figure: northbound truck crossings at every U.S.-Mexico land port over the newest complete calendar year, with the per-port breakdown behind it. This is the figure the front page prints.

valuedisplayperiodscopesourceasOflivelatestMonthports[]{name,v,share}

Cache cadence: Revalidated daily. The underlying BTS series is monthly and lands about two months after the reference month.
Timestamp: asOf is the moment this payload was assembled, in ISO 8601 UTC. period is the calendar year the count covers, and latestMonth is the last month BTS has filed. When BTS cannot answer, value and display come back null.
Sources: BTS Border Crossing/Entry Data
Dashboard: /us-mexico-border

curl -s https://labs.drdanielcovarrubias.com/api/crossings

Your browser reads this route when the page loads.

GET/api/signals

Desk signals

The policy clock and the desk's current readings: upcoming deadlines with day counts, the peso, the World Trade Bridge, Port Laredo's latest published month, and notable events.

updatedfx{now,weekAgo,deltaPct,date,src}bridge{wait,name,asOf}trade{month,label,total,imports,exports,yoyPct,snapshot}usmcadeadline{label,days,href}deadlines[]{label,date,iso,days,href,note,urgent}events[]{text,kind,href}

Cache cadence: Revalidated hourly.
Timestamp: updated is ISO 8601 UTC. Day counts are computed against that stamp.
Sources: USTR, Federal Register, plus the live feeds above

curl -s https://labs.drdanielcovarrubias.com/api/signals

Your browser reads this route when the page loads.

GET/api/lab-stats

Desk inventory

The standing figures shown across the desk, each with its note and dashboard.

updatedfigures[]{label,value,note,href}

Cache cadence: Revalidated every 30 minutes.
Timestamp: Reflects the deployed build.
Sources: This repository

curl -s https://labs.drdanielcovarrubias.com/api/lab-stats

Your browser reads this route when the page loads.

Terms, in one paragraph

CC BY 4.0

The underlying data is public U.S. and Mexican government data. The compilation, normalization, and index construction are the desk's work, published under CC BY 4.0.
Attribute the desk when you republish a figure or a chart built on one. The citation below is the form to use.
Cache what you pull. These routes are cached at the edge and hammering them helps nobody.
Corrections and questions go to dcova@tamiu.edu.

How to cite the desk

Covarrubias, Daniel. The Border Intelligence Desk. Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development, Texas A&M International University. labs.drdanielcovarrubias.com.