EL PASO, Texas (KTRK) – Texas has signed an agreement with another Mexican state to alleviate the backlog at the border caused by strict and mandatory inspections of commercial vehicles heading to the United States
On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced the suspension of inspections of trucks coming from Chihuahuas. Many truck drivers were disappointed after waiting at least all day for their trucks to be inspected at the crossing.
A similar announcement was made Wednesday after Abbott and the governor of the Mexican state of Nuevo, Leon Samuel Garcia, reached a similar agreement. Abbott said he and Garcia had agreed to the Nuevo Leon government to increase border security measures on their side of the bridge. Garcia hopes other governors in the Mexican states will do the same.
Mandatory intensified DPS inspections of all commercial vehicles were ordered by Governor Abbott. They will now return to random checks by the DPS on the bridge connecting Nuevo Leon to the United States.
Abbott said he hoped to reach similar agreements with other Mexican leaders in states and cities that have bridges directly connecting them to the United States.
Bridges from two other Mexican states are still under strict DPS inspections, which are causing delays. Abbott says he hopes to meet with these leaders in the coming days.
In a statement, the US Department of Customs and Border Protection called the additional layer of inspections unnecessary. Nearly a week since the route was ordered, we are now seeing long delays at the border for commercial trucks. CBP confirmed that some waiting times at border crossings exceed five hours, causing a 60% drop in trade.
“Longer than average waiting times and subsequent supply chain disruptions are not related to CBP’s screening activities and are due to additional and unnecessary checks conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety on the orders of the Texas governor,” he said. CBP. in a statement.
Local trade associations, employees and companies are calling on the Texas government to end the additional process of checking border trucks, according to CBP. It says that no additional inspections are needed to protect the safety and security of the communities in our country. In fact, CBP said it was causing more headaches due to significant impacts on local supply chains and would ultimately affect consumers and businesses nationwide.
On Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Abbott’s unnecessary and unnecessary inspections of trucks passing through entry ports were causing significant disruption to food and car supply chains. According to Psaki, this is slowing down production, affecting jobs and raising prices for families in Texas and across the country.
“Governor Abbott’s actions affect people’s jobs and the livelihoods of hard-working American families,” Psaki said. “Local companies and trade associations are calling on Governor Abbott to overturn this decision, as trucks are facing long delays of more than five hours at some border crossings and trade traffic has fallen by as much as 60%.”
Mark Jones, a political science expert in Houston, called the Abbott movement a political theater.
“It’s all meant to put the spotlight on the border and make Texans think about President Biden’s immigration policy, which is usually viewed negatively by most Texans,” Jones said. “However, there are adverse effects on the potential increase in the cost of what Texans pay for tomatoes, strawberries and avocados, as well as the prices of manufactured goods if it continues in a few weeks.” Jones said the delay in workers would mean a shortage of goods at once people across the country are already struggling with record inflation of 8%.
SEE RELATED STORY: Sticker Shock: Inflation in the United States has jumped 8.5% in the last year, the highest since 1981.
“Everything that happens at the border will only have a more adverse effect on inflation, causing higher prices, not lower ones, and hit Texans in their pocketbooks,” Jones said.
He also said the president is inclined to blame inflation, but this time it will be a case where the governor is causing Texas prices to rise through political cascades at the border. Jones believes the security measures announced last week by Abbott have nothing to do with politics and instead have everything to do with politics.
ABC3 asked Abbott if there were other plans to tackle border security without affecting trade, but we have not yet received a response.
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