KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The plan to open a special trucking and trade hub in the city's West Bottoms has become snarled in red tape.

The SmartPort was supposed to open two years ago, but the plan is facing hurdles in both America and Mexico, KMBC's Micheal Mahoney reported.

The plan was to put a Mexican customs house on Liberty Street in the West Bottoms so trucks headed to Mexico could clear customs in Kansas City, quickening the trip.

"It's been, what I call, one hang up after another," said Bonnie Sue Cooper, a former City Councilmember who currently heads the soon-to-be-out-of-business Kansas City-Mexico Trade and Business Initiatives Corp.

Cooper said 300 trucks move through the West Bottoms now, and many of those are headed for Mexico.

She said the plan to start SmartPort took a hit when the Mexican government and its entire leadership changed.

"They all said we don't have a clue -- so, it's just like starting over with all of it," Cooper said.

And in Washington, D.C., the plan took another hit from changes in the Department of Homeland Security.

"Directors changed three times in this process, and each time, the stack of paper just gets taller and taller," Cooper said.

She said she does not think the current controversy about illegal immigrants from Mexico is an issue in the SmartPort delay.