It’s been nine days since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced stepped up safety inspections at the Mexican border in an effort to halt people and drug smuggling into the U.S.
Here’s the latest:
THREE DOWN
Abbott lifted his directive to inspect every commercial vehicle crossing into Texas from three Mexican states after they demonstrated a commitment to security efforts.
He said Thursday that he has been assured that Mexican officials in the state of Chihuahua has beefed up security measures on their side of the border. As a result, stepped up state safety inspections that have snarled commercial traffic at bridges including those between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, returned to normal. Later that evening he reached a similar deal with the governor of Coahuila.
Wednesday, Abbott and Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Alejandro Garcia Sepulveda signed what both men called a “historic” agreement lifting Abbott’s extra level of inspection as Nuevo Leon expands its own inspections efforts on the Mexican side, something Garcia said the state began doing on Monday with the help of Mexico’s National Guard.
Chihuahua Governor Maria Eugenia Campos Galvan said that she presented a “sound public policy” to improve security, and added that the state is already investing more than $200 million into efforts that include high profile technology to track vehicles, drones to patrol the border, and biometric filters to assist in the capture of cartel leaders.
The plan that Campos spoke about Thursday is the one she laid out in December following a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar. It is part of a U.S. Agency for International Development four-year, $19.4 million Violence Prevention and Reduction Activity program across 32 cities in 10 states in Mexico.
POLITICAL STUNT?
Democrats have accused Abbott of engaging in political theater to save face after coming under strong criticism by conservative and liberal political, business and trade leaders for the stepped up border inspections which are costing time and money.
“Abbott is the arsonist who torched the Texas economy by shutting down trade with Mexico to score cheap political points,” said Beto O’Rourke, his Democrat opponent in the November election. “Now he wants credit for putting out the fire by announcing these ridiculous ‘security agreements.’ Texans aren’t buying it and we’ll never forget the chaos Abbott has caused to our economy and our border communities.”
Mexico is Texas’ No. 1 trading partner. In 2021, there was more than $661 billion in trade between the U.S. and Mexico, according to U.S. Census data. The two economies are in many ways integrated into one.
WHAT ARE THE RESULTS?
Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw told The Dallas Morning News on Thursday that heightened inspections are continuing at international bridges in Pharr. But DPS says it has not intercepted any smuggled people or drugs since the increased inspections began.
“It’s not to find (smuggling) as much as prevent it,” said McCraw. “We do 100% inspections on the bridge, when they see troopers are doing it, first of it cartels are good about scouts and what’s going on both sides of the border, so when they see that they shut down bridge operations, so really it’s very good prevention I don’t know that we’ve even had a seizure this far.”
DPS reported that as of the end of Wednesday, 1,196 commercial vehicles were placed out of service for safety violations such as defective brakes, defective tires and defective lighting. Additionally, 126 commercial vehicle drivers were placed out of service.
WHAT’S NEXT?
In an effort to ease the commercial traffic backlog, U.S. Customs and Border Protection in El Paso, in coordination with Mexican counterparts, will keep ports open later in the day on Good Friday, a day when they normally close at noon. Ports with commercial lanes will remain open until midnight and will be open Saturday on the holiday weekend when they are normally closed.
Meanwhile, the governor of one other Mexican state bordering Texas -- Tamaulipas -- has reached out to Abbott to discuss increased security measures at commercial crossings while seeking a resumption of normal trade between Texas and Mexico. Laredo is across from Tamaulipas, and about 70% of all Mexican commercial traffic to the U.S. passes through that city.
Some Mexican commentators and analysts have watched as the Mexican governors fell in line with Abbott with “shock,” said Javier Garza, a journalist and radio commentator in the state of Coahuila.
“Abbot is one of the main creators of the climate of fear of undocumented migrants for electoral gain,” he said. “It’s a shame he can affect the economies of both countries just to get votes. If a Mexican politician were doing this, he’d be on fire.”
____
