Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday challenged escalating pressure on his new border policy that has blocked trucks entering the U.S. and closed some of the busiest trade bridges in the world, as the Mexican government, the companies and even some allies urge him to give in.
The two-term Republican governor, who has ordered Mexico’s commercial trucks to undergo additional inspections as part of a fight with President Joe Biden’s administration over immigration, has refused to completely reverse course. that the traffic is still thick.
The clash has fueled warnings from trade groups and experts that U.S. grocery buyers could soon notice shortages on shelves and higher prices unless normal truck flow resumes.
Abbott announced Wednesday that he would stop inspections at a bridge in Laredo after reaching an agreement with the governor of neighboring Nuevo Leon in Mexico. But some of the most spectacular truck backups and bridge closures have occurred elsewhere along the 1,200-mile Texas border.
“I understand the concerns of companies trying to move the product to the border,” Abbott said during a visit to Laredo. “But I also know well the frustration of my fellow Texans and Americans caused by the fact that the Biden administration does not secure our border.”
Abbott said commercial trucks entering other places will continue to be thoroughly inspected by state police until the leaders of Mexico’s other three neighboring states reach security agreements with Texas. He did not explain what these measures should entail.
At the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, where it crosses more goods than any other U.S. land port, truckers protesting Abbott’s order had closed the bridge since Monday. But on Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said the protests had ended and trade traffic had resumed.
Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Garcia joined Abbott in Laredo, where backups at the Colombian Solidarity Bridge have been extended for three hours or more. Garcia said Nuevo Leon would start checkpoints to assure Abbott that “they would have no problem.”
Abbott said he hoped other Mexican states would follow them soon and said those states had been in contact with his office. On Tuesday, the governors of Coahuila and Tamaulipas had sent a letter to Abbott calling the inspections excessive zeal.
“This policy will ultimately increase consumer costs in a record-breaking 40-year market; holding the border hostage is not the answer,” the letter said.
The slowdowns are the result of an initiative that Abbott says is needed to curb human trafficking and the flow of drugs. Abbott ordered the inspections as part of “unprecedented actions” he promised in response to the Biden administration’s liquidation of a public health law restricting asylum seekers in the name of preventing spread of COVID-19.
In addition to the inspections, Abbott also said Texas would begin offering bus trips to migrants in Washington, DC, in a show of frustration with the Biden administration and Congress. Hours before the press conference in Laredo, Abbott announced the first bus with 24 migrants he had arrived in Washington.
During the last week of March, Border Protection officials said the border averaged more than 7,100 daily crossings.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki called Abbott’s order “unnecessary and redundant.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspect the trucks as they enter the country, and while Texas soldiers have previously conducted additional inspections on some vehicles, local officials and business owners say that so far the soldiers they have never stopped all the trucks.
Cross-border traffic has plummeted to a third of normal levels since inspections began, according to the Mexican government. Mexico is a major supplier of fresh vegetables to the U.S., and importers say waiting times and diverting trucks to other bridges as far away as Arizona have damaged some shipments of produce.
The growing pressure on Abbott, who is running for re-election in November, has come from his supporters and members of his own party.
The Texas Trucking Association, which has backed Abbott, said the current situation “cannot be maintained”.
John Esparza, president of the association, said he agrees with attempts to find a remedy with the governors of Mexico. But he said if the talks get too long, congestion could overwhelm bridges where Texas inspections are no longer done.
“The more time passes, the more the impact is felt across the country,” Esparza said. “It’s like disaster strikes.”
The slowdown has provoked one of the biggest reactions to date to Abbott’s multimillion-dollar border operation, which the two-term governor has turned into the cornerstone of his administration. Texas has thousands of state soldiers and members of the National Guard at the border and has turned prisons into prisons for migrants arrested on state entry charges.
Critics question how the inspections meet Abbott’s goal of stopping the flow of migrants and drugs. When asked which soldiers had appeared in his truck inspections, Abbott addressed the question to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
As of Monday, the agency said it had inspected more than 3,400 commercial vehicles and put more than 800 “out of service” for violations that included defective brakes, tires and lighting. It was not mentioned whether the inspections detected migrants or drugs.
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