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Abbott eases inspections as trade remains snarled at Texas-Mexico border
Governor Greg Abbott says Texas has reached a deal with the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It comes after he announced last week that Texas DPS would be inspecting every vehicle that crossed the border which it now not the case. FOX 7 Austin's Tierra Neubaum has details.
AUSTIN, Texas - Texas Governor Greg Abbott held a press conference with Chihuahua Governor María Eugenia Campos Galván in Austin to announce an agreement they say will help ease commercial traffic at one of the international ports of entry where international trade has been snarled since Abbott ordered Texas state troopers to do additional inspections on cargo.
During the press conference, Abbott said Governor Campos showed him a security plan that addressed his concerns about stopping the large number of migrants crossing into the state. As part of the deal, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers will stop inspecting every commercial truck and go back to random inspections along the border.
It’s not clear if Mexican authorities will inspect every commercial vehicle.
Abbott held a press conference with Nuevo León Gov. Samuel Alejandro García Sepúlveda on Wednesday to announce the first agreement that was aimed at helping to ease commercial traffic at the Laredo-Colombia bridge.
As part of that deal, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers will stop inspecting every commercial truck on the Laredo–Colombia Solidarity International Bridge as long as Nuevo León has checkpoints on its side of the Mexican state’s 9-mile-long border.
The move to ease Texas' inspections at two of the 13 commercial crossings along approximately 1,200 miles of border the state shares with Mexico came after Abbott has been heavily criticized by the White House, Mexican federal and state governments and the American private sector about the inspections.
"Governor Abbott’s unnecessary and redundant inspections of trucks transiting ports of entry between Texas and Mexico are causing significant disruptions to the food and automobile supply chains, delaying manufacturing, impacting jobs, and raising prices for families in Texas and across the country," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
Commercial vehicles crossing into the United States from Mexico are having to wait hours as a result of Abbott’s new initiative while state troopers are supposed to check each one that crosses select border ports. The state inspection of vehicles comes after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials check them first at the port of entry.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has never checked every commercial vehicle entering Texas from Mexico, and it is unclear how thoroughly state troopers are inspecting the vehicles.
The Texas Tribune contributed to this article
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MORE HEADLINES:
Biden administration, Mexican governors urge Abbott to end inspections that have bogged down border trade
International trade halted at Texas border crossings as truckers protest Greg Abbott’s new inspections
Texas border officials worry Abbott’s order to increase vehicle inspections will hurt local economy
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