On Thursday, Governor Greg Abbott announced the suspension of controls on commercial trucks coming from Chihuahua. Many truck drivers were disappointed after waiting at least a whole day to inspect their trucks on the crossing. A similar announcement was made Wednesday after Abbott and the governor of the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, Samuel Garcia, reached a similar agreement. Abbott said he and Garcia agreed that the Nuevo Leon government would increase border security on the side of the bridge. Garcίαa hopes that other governors in the Mexican states will do the same. Mandatory increased DPS inspections of all commercial vehicles were ordered by Governor Abbott. They will now return as random checks performed by DPS on the bridge connecting Nuevo Leon with the USA Abbott says he hopes to make similar deals with other Mexican leaders in states and cities that have bridges connecting them directly to the United States. Bridges from two other Mexican states are still subject to strict DPS controls that have caused delays. Abbott says he hopes to meet with these leaders in the coming days. In a statement, the US Department of Customs and Border Protection said the extra level of inspections was unnecessary. Almost a week after the direction was ordered, we are now seeing long delays at the border for commercial trucks. The CBP has confirmed that some waiting times at border crossings exceed five hours and cause a 60% reduction in commercial traffic. “Longer-than-average waiting times and subsequent supply chain disruptions are not related to CBP control activities and are due to additional and unnecessary inspections conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety on behalf of the Governor of Texas,” the CB said. . in a statement. Local businesses, officials and businesses are calling on the Texas government to suspend the additional truck inspection process at the border, according to the CBP. He said no additional inspections are needed to protect the safety and security of communities throughout our state. In fact, CBP said this is causing a bigger headache because of the significant impact on local supply chains and will ultimately affect consumers and businesses nationwide. On Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said unnecessary and unnecessary inspections of trucks passing through ports of entry from Abbott were causing major disruptions to the food and car supply chains. According to Psaki, it is delaying production, affecting jobs and raising prices for families in Texas and across the country. “Governor Abbott’s actions affect people’s jobs and the livelihoods of working-class American families,” Psaki said. “Local businesses and trade unions are calling on Governor Abbott to reverse this decision because trucks are experiencing long delays of more than five hours at some border crossings and traffic has been reduced by up to 60%. Mark Jones, a political scientist in Houston, called Abbott’s move a political theater. “All of this is designed to focus on the border and make Texans think about President Biden’s immigration policy, which is generally viewed negatively by the majority of Texans,” Jones said. “However, it has a negative effect on the potential increase in the costs that Texans pay for tomatoes, strawberries and avocados, as well as the prices of manufactured products if it continues after a few weeks.” Jones said the slowdown for workers would mean a shortage of goods at a time when people across the country are already in trouble due to record inflation at 8%. SEE RELATED HISTORY: Sticker Shock: Inflation in the United States jumped 8.5% last year, higher than 1981 “What happens at the border will only have a more adverse effect on inflation, causing higher prices rather than lower ones and hitting Texans in their pocketbooks,” Jones said. He also said the president tends to be blamed for inflation, but this time it would be a case where the governor is causing prices to rise in Texas through political acrobatics at the border. Jones believes the security measures announced last week by Abbott have nothing to do with politics and instead have nothing to do with politics. ABC3 contacted Abbott to find out if there are any other plans to address border security without affecting trade, but we have not received any news yet. For updates on this story, follow Daniela Hurtado on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Copyright © 2022 KTRK-TV. All rights reserved.
