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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ends some border cargo inspections after truckers protest
Gov. Greg Abbott announced that Texas will stop the controversial inspections of cargo trucks that have snarled border traffic at just one international border crossing.
Politics
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that the Lone Star State would end controversial inspections of cargo trucks that have snarled border traffic, led to three international bridge closures and cost Texas businesses millions of dollars each day — but only at one international border crossing.
“The effect of this will be at the bridge from Nuevo Leon to Texas, [traffic] will return to normal effective immediately,” Abbott told a news conference.
The governor said he had made a deal with his counterpart in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, under which law enforcement in the Mexican state would pre-inspect cargo trucks heading into the United States before they reach the border. The Mexican inspections started Tuesday in Nuevo Leon.
In exchange, Abbott would stop inspections that have caused a massive backlog in cargo traffic at Texas ports of entry and cost state businesses an estimated $100 million dollars a day.
The first Mexican checkpoint was set up south of the Laredo-Colomba bridge on Tuesday, according to Mexican newspaper, El Norte. The Mexican inspections are taking 30 minutes compared to the 45 to 60 minutes the Texas Department of Public Safety inspections are taking, the outlet reported.