But despite his plan to immediately facilitate single-crossing inspections, eyewitness reports said traffic resumed normal flow through other international bridges to Laredo and Far for at least a few hours during the day. Abbott told a news conference Wednesday that the additional checkpoint would be closed immediately at the only border crossing in Nuevo Leon in exchange for reinforced patrols and checkpoints in Mexico, which represents less than 10 miles of the 1,254-mile border. Texas. and Mexico. Increased crossroads inspections will continue on more than two dozen other Texas crossings until leaders in other Mexican states present further plans to secure their sides at the international border, Abbott said. “Clogged bridges can only end with the kind of cooperation we are showing today between Texas and Nuevo Leon,” said Abbott, who sat next to Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Alejandro Garcίαa Sepulveda at Laredo’s press conference. Until Democratic President Joe Biden fights illegal immigration, Abbott said Texas will continue to use “its own strategies to secure its borders and continue to negotiate with Mexico to find solutions.” Abbott’s move to get involved in international affairs with an enhanced vehicle inspection program shows how far he is willing to go in the name of border security. The Republican has put the issue at the heart of his re-election campaign. It could also help him win votes with GOP voters as his name circulates as a possible candidate for the 2024 presidency. Business leaders, trade officials and politicians on both sides of the border have criticized the tightened controls, saying they cost time and money. The federal government said vehicles full of fresh produce, car parts and other goods waited up to 12 hours to cross the border, and some truckers said it took three days to pass through federal and state checkpoints. Last week, the Republican governor ordered additional security checks on commercial trucks coming to Texas from Mexico as a way to root out human and drug trafficking. The Ministry of Public Safety said it had inspected at least 4,133 commercial vehicles under the new policy, which resulted in almost a quarter being removed from the road for “serious safety problems” with brakes and tires. But the agency did not answer questions about whether it had uncovered evidence of human or drug trafficking. Texas military is continuing to inspect trucks after the end of the curfew in Mexico that began Monday outside the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge. (Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer) Asked on Wednesday about criticism that his actions were an advertising ploy, Abbott gave a new explanation for the policy that has caused chaos with the state’s No. 1 trading partner. “The goal since then has been to make sure people understand the consequences of an open border and that Texas is not going to tolerate it anymore,” he said. “We knew that once we did what we did at the border, officials in Mexico would contact us,” Abbott said. “Sometimes it just takes action to motivate people to sit and work outside.” Abbott did not set a timetable for ending the increased security inspections that began last Wednesday in response to the Biden administration’s plan to end the pandemic-era health policy used to deport migrants back to Mexico. Leaders from all four Mexican states bordering Texas have contacted the governor’s office and more meetings could begin Thursday, Abbott said. The announcement of a return to normalcy at a single border crossing was apparently refuted a few hours later, when traffic began to flow freely on some international bridges in the Rio Grande Valley. In the El Paso area, which includes Santa Teresa, the flow of commercial trucks seemed to “return to normal, all day,” said Franz Felhaber, president of Felhaber and Company Inc., a customs-based customer service company. from both sides. of borders. But at 5 p.m., just hours after Abbott’s announcement, the stalemate was back. Felhaber said he was still rerouting commercial trucks through New Mexico out of “caution. “(Abbott) may change his mind again,” he said. “I have lost confidence in the governor.” At Pharr, trading was good for a few hours, but slowed again overnight. Disruptions in regular operations across the border have angered both Republicans and Democrats in political and business circles. Instead of randomly inspecting commercial vehicles as they arrive from Mexico, the Department of Public Safety announced plans to stop each one. In a White House news release Wednesday, Secretary-General Jen Psaki called the Abbott truck inspections “another political ploy” by the Texas governor. “There is more than $ 1 million in trade across the US-Mexico border every minute. These actions affect people’s jobs and the livelihoods of working families in Texas and across the country. It is not a political statement. “This is a statement of fact,” he said. Democrat lawmakers, meanwhile, have announced the creation of a task force to deal with responsibility for the Abbott Border Initiative, known as Operation Lone Star. And Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat who ousted Abbott in November, accused the governor of “crashing businesses, raising prices for Texans, causing supply chain delays and hurting our state and our economy.” ». In 2021, there were more than $ 661 billion in trade between the United States and Mexico, according to the US Census. The two economies are in many ways integrated into one. John D. Esparza, president and CEO of the Texas Trucking Association, said in a statement Wednesday that his organization favors border security, but added that Abbott’s intensified inspections “overlap existing control efforts and lead to significant congestion. delaying American-based products from our largest trading partner, Mexico. “ Esparza warned that increased delays at border crossings could lead to the postponement or cancellation of deliveries and “perishable goods and the shelves of grocery and retail stores starting to empty”. In Reynosa, the city across the border from Pharr alone, long-term inspections affected 70% of the maquiladora border industry, with losses of more than $ 122.9 million, said Aldo Hernandez Jacquez, a Tamaulipas spokesman. Hernandez said Tamaulipas already had military checkpoints needed for truckers before moving to Texas. Truckers stuck in queues for hours responded by staging protests. Earlier Wednesday, CPB said trade on the Pharr International Bridge, Anzalduas Bridge and Progreso Bridge had stopped completely in both directions due to truckers’ protests on the Mexican side of the border “and due to no movement south air carriers “. On Wednesday, the protests ended in Ciudad Juarez and San Jeromino, in the area of El Paso. Late Wednesday, The Monitor Mexican cartel officials said several trucks had been set on fire in an attempt to end the blockade near the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge. The governors of Coahuila and Tamaulipas, which share a border with Texas, issued a joint statement to Abbott on Tuesday night, warning that the new inspection measures “create disaster and financial pain on both sides of the border.” “Unfortunately, political points have never been a good recipe for addressing common challenges or threats,” said Tamaulipas Governor Francisco Javier Cabeza de Vaca and Coahuila Governor Miguel Angel Riguelme Solis. Alfredo Castro (left), a traffic manager at a Mexican truck company, hands over money to one of his truck drivers for repairs after an inspection by Texas soldiers at the Pharr – Reynosa International Bridge on Monday, April 11, 2022. . (Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer) It remains to be seen whether they will work with Abbott to negotiate agreements similar to the one reached with Nuevo León. At a news conference Wednesday, Abbott and Nuevo León Governor Samuel Alejandro García Sepúlveda signed a memorandum calling on the two states to “work together” to stem the flow of immigrants to Texas, reduce cartel activity and faster crossings. There are no specific policy steps set out in the two-page agreement, which was printed in both English and Spanish. But Garcia, 34, said the Mexican state would set up a checkpoint on the Laredo-Columbia International Solidarity Bridge that connects Laredo with Anahuac in Nuevo León. The international border will be “constantly patrolled by our police,” he said, as part of an effort launched earlier this week to ensure Texas “has no problems” with the Mexican state. “We want to make sure that Texas feels comfortable doing business with Nuevo León,” he said, “and that together we can have a lot more.” Staff writer Allie Morris reported from Austin, staff writer Alfredo Corchado reported from El Paso and staff writer Dianne Solis reported from Pharr.
