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Amid Backlash, Texas Governor Repeals Border-Clogging Immigration Order
Gov. Greg Abbott said he would reissue the policy, under which all commercial vehicles arriving at the border were inspected, if illegal crossings into Texas increased.
Politics
Gov. Greg Abbott said he would reissue the policy, under which all commercial vehicles arriving at the border were inspected, if illegal crossings into Texas increased.
Facing an intensifying backlash from political parties and business groups, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on Friday ended his policy of inspecting all commercial vehicles crossing into the state from Mexico, a time-consuming process that had caused traffic jams of 14 hours or more at the border.
Mr. Abbott said his decision came after an agreement with the governor of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, who flanked him at a news conference on Friday, to step up security measures on the Mexican side of the border at ports of entry and along the Rio Grande.
Earlier in the week, Mr. Abbott said the safety inspections, which began on April 6, were part of a concerted effort to force Mexican officials to do more to stop the flow of migrants into the United States. He said on Wednesday that he would end the inspections at one entry point — the bridge between Laredo and the Mexican city of Colombia, Nuevo León — only because the governor of that state had agreed to increase border security on the Mexican side.
On Friday, Mr. Abbott said he now had agreements in place with the governors of all four Mexican states bordering Texas to enhance security. He left open the possibility of reissuing a similar policy if crossings increased.