Did Mexico negotiate well with the governor of Texas? 2:56
(CNN Spanish) — After a week of chaos after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s crackdown that significantly increased truck crossing times at four U.S.-Mexico border crossings, Abbott announced it would suspend further in-depth inspections in the region.
Abbott and the governor of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca, announced this Friday that they have reached an agreement to strengthen border security in the region, particularly on the Mexican side. Among other things, the measure will allow for the elimination of additional comprehensive screening checks applied to cargo vehicles before they enter US territory, a press conference said.
Abbott this week signed similar agreements with Nuevo León Governors Samuel García, Chihuahua Governors María Eugenia Campos Galván, and Coahuila Governors Miguel Ángel Riquelme Solís.
The Texas governor’s move was part of his recently enacted Texas Border Truck Inspection Enforcement Action rule, which allowed the Texas Department of Public Safety, a group normally tasked with keeping highway patrols and truck inspections safe, to stop and inspect every truck crossing the US-Mexico border at key Texas ports of entry for people and drug smuggling.
According to a statement from Gov. Abbott’s office, the strategies were intended to “reduce the flow of drugs, human traffickers, illegal immigrants, guns and other contraband into Texas” and included “enhanced security screening” of commercial vehicles entering the United States through U.S. ports of entry .
The rule was enacted shortly after Biden announced that Title 42 would be repealed. “Texans demand and deserve an aggressive and comprehensive strategy to secure our border, not lackluster leadership from President Biden,” Gov. Abbott said earlier this week. Customs and Border Protection are already checking trucks crossing the Texas border, calling the rule “unnecessary.”
Texas and Nuevo León agree to suspend transport review 1:25
Additional inspections by the Texas Department of Public Safety caused several days of delays and prompted some Mexican truckers to go on strike over their ability to move multiple trucks across the border each day, resulting in lost income. Vegetable farmers say their produce is spoiling, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
Texas border inspections have been deemed excessive by at least two major trade groups, who said the new policy would wreak havoc at the border.
For its part, the American Trucking Association (ATA) on Thursday joined the list of elected officials, industry groups and government agencies, urging the Texas governor to end the “wrong system” of stopping and inspecting trucks crossing the U.S.-U.S. border Crossing Mexico, the largest truck trade group said Thursday.
“Governor Abbott has direct responsibility for enforcing these pointless new inspections in our industry and the detrimental impact they are having on the economy and American workers, including truck drivers. We urge the governor to immediately scrap his misguided plan,” said Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations.
The ATA called these measures “redundant and adds significant weight to an already strained supply chain.”
According to the Fresh Produce Association, $9 billion worth of produce is traded across Texas. Car parts are also moved by truck.
“Adding additional layers of new controls for auto transport companies, which are already subject to significant controls and have a strong record of compliance, offers few safety benefits, while congestion and the impact on our already congested supply chain will increase the price of goods,” Spear said.
With information from CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich