The move comes after Abbott endured days of harsh criticism from both Democrats and Republicans and met with backlash from shipping companies and the Texas Truck Association. Since carrying out the most thorough inspections a week ago, truck traffic in many of Texas’ ports of entry has stopped. At Laredo, the nation’s largest trucking port, the normal 30 minutes or less to fly in a hot air balloon increased to three hours or more, delaying shipments of all kinds, from goods to electronics and increasing costs for trucking companies. But Abbott said Wednesday that the easing of inspections occurs only along the 8-mile-long border with Nuevo Leon, which has only a small portion of its 1,254-mile border with Texas. Abbott said he was in talks with leaders in other Mexican states to reach similar agreements in exchange for speeding up inspections in Texas. “As Nuevo Leon has increased its border security, the Texas Department of Public Safety may return to its previous practice of randomly searching vehicles crossing the bridge over Neuvo Leon,” Abbott told Nuevo Governor Leon, Samuel. At his side is Alejandro García Sepulveda.

                IN DEPTH: Beto O’Rourke, trucking companies say Abbott ‘wreaked havoc’ at border with latest crackdown

Almost immediately, waiting times plummeted for truckers trying to cross the Columbia-Solidarity Bridge at Laredo, which connects Nuevo Leon with Interstate 35 and is by far Texas’s busiest port for trucking traffic. Mexico. More than 2.5 million trucks passed through Laredo in 2021, according to the US Department of Transportation. At 3 p.m., these trucks took six hours to cross the bridge. Within an hour of the signing of Abbott’s agreement with Garcia, the wait dropped to five minutes. Abbott went so far as to concede defeat Wednesday, insisting that increased controls had always been about improving road safety in Texas and forcing Mexican officials to do more at the border. DPS officials estimated that they found that 25 percent of all vehicles crossing the border had serious mechanical problems, such as bad brakes or tires. “There may be Texans whose lives have been saved because of vehicles that have been shut down by the Texas Department of Public Safety,” Abbott said. “Because otherwise these dangerous vehicles, with dangerous brakes, could have fallen on a Texan who was walking across the road or driving on a road.” Selected Texas Political Stories
Abbott last week instructed the Texas Department of Public Safety to step up truck inspections because “the cartels that smuggle people and people across our southern border are not interested in the condition of the vehicles they send to Texas.” However, state soldiers were not allowed to check vehicles for illegal drugs or human trafficking. They could only control the working conditions of the vehicle, such as brakes, tires and taillights. But as those inspections began, travel times to the busiest ports increased, with drivers saying the wait lasted eight hours at some border crossings, forcing truckers to burn more diesel and risk as perishable goods. In Mexico, the governor’s order sparked a blockade by blockaded truckers blocking all US trucks from entering key areas in Hidalgo County and El Paso. The White House criticized Abbott on Wednesday, saying his actions resulted in more supply chain disruptions and disrupted U.S. customs controls at the border. “The continued flow of legitimate trade and travel and CBP’s ability to do its job should not be hindered,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. Even Abbott’s biggest allies have begun to turn against his policies in recent days. The Texas Truck Association, which just two months ago approved his re-election, issued a statement criticizing the policy. “Unfortunately, this new initiative replicates existing control efforts and leads to significant congestion, delaying the products on which the Americans rely from our largest trading partner, Mexico,” said TXTA President & CEO John D. Esparza . Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a Republican, called Abbott’s inspections “catastrophic.” “This does not solve the problem of borders, it increases the cost of food and adds deficiencies to the supply chain,” Miller said. Abbott accuses the Biden government of doing more to secure the border. He said he needed to take unprecedented steps to offset Biden’s negligence and that the aim was to ensure that people understood the consequences of an open border and that “Texas is no longer going to tolerate it.” Abbott said he knew the order would lead Mexican officials to contact him and that he could immediately push for better security. He gave Garcia credit for his commitment to stepping up patrols along the border south of the Rio Grande. “We are willing to make an effort to patrol all those 14 kilometers we have with Texas to set an example for other states in Mexico,” Garcia said Wednesday. Abbott said the DPS had already seen increased patrols in Nuevo Leon at the port of entry and along the river. [email protected]