Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security restrictions have left at least 19,000 trucks loaded with $1.9 billion of goods stuck waiting at the Texas-Mexico border.
The main cause for the long wait-times is the safety inspection requirements. The strenuous requirements have resulted in wait times as long as 24 hours, and a 14 mile-long line, said Mexico officials on Oct. 8.
Texas announced a revamped push for cargo truck inspections last month as part of Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.
This plan aims to deter illegal border crossings and drug smuggling amid what he says is a lack of enforcement by the federal government.
The measure “doesn’t help the region’s development and puts at risk tens of thousands of jobs in Mexico and in the U.S.,” the trucking association said.
“We reiterate our call to the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy to exhaust all diplomatic channels and spaces for dialogue to demand that the Texas government put an end to this measure.”
On Oct. 9, there was a four-hour wait for commercial vehicles to cross the Ysleta bridge in El Paso, according to government figures.
About $443 billion in electronics, fruit, nuts and machinery crossed into the U.S. via Tex-Mex ports of entry in 2021, according to the Texas Center for Border and Economic Enterprise Development.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s press office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Oct. 9 said Abbott’s administration has a “very hostile attitude” and has “further complicated the migration issue with politicking.”
He said Mexico is preparing a diplomatic note to be sent Oct. 9 and that he has discussed Texas with President Joe Biden as well.
The 2022 Texas border crackdown led Mexico’s then-Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier to say the country was seeking to reduce its reliance on Texas crossing points, and that the government was working to relocate a planned rail and ports expansion known as the T-MEC Corridor that had been set to include a Texas border crossing.
