Texas: Mexican Truckers Block Bridges in U.S.-Mexico Border to Protest Over Greg Abbott's Inspections

Mexican truckers blocked bridges in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border to protest Governor Gregg Abbott's order to increase the safety inspections. The protests are taking place at the Santa Teresa bridge connecting San Jeronimo, Chihuahua, to Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

According to The Guardian, the protests on several bridges caused traffic at ports of entry and led business groups to warn of supply chain disruptions.

Traffic at the fourth bridge connecting Reynosa to Pharr, Texas was also seen on Tuesday, as drivers parked their trucks on the bridge and began barbecuing on the Mexican side of the port of entry.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said that protests are also occurring on a bridge connecting Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, as well as the bridge in Rio Grande Valley.

One Mexican trucker, Raymundo Galicia, told The Guardian that the protests on one of the bridges took him 17 hours to cross into the United States and return.

"I get paid the same whether it takes me an hour or 10 hours to cross, so this is affecting us a lot," Galicia noted.

Galicia also participated in the protests, claiming that he and his colleagues will target more bridges if the delays continue.

The protests from Mexican truckers came after Texas Governor Gregg Abbott announced additional state inspections in response to the decision of the Biden administration to end the Title 42 expulsion, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Abbot has also argued that extra inspections are needed since cargo trucks are often used to smuggle drugs and humans into the United States, according to New York Post.

Texas Businesses Warn of Supply Chain Disruptions

On Tuesday, business owners from Texas said that the protests involving the Mexican truckers prompted a supply-chain headache for businesses.

Joe Arevelo, a freight and shipping company from Pharr, Texas, claimed that the current condition at the border can potentially devastate the already delicate supply chain in the U.S. that may lead to an avocado and tomato shortage, per the Post. Arevelo also explained that his client was also forced to look for other ways to get around the Texas border inspections.

Another Texas trucking and shipping businessman, Polo Chow, told the Post that there were not enough troops to inspect the incoming trucks from Mexico. Chow also claimed that some of the products from the U.S., including pork and beef, were not able to cross Mexico.

"As of yesterday, zero trucks crossed (the border.) Typically, you have 3,000 trucks crossing per day here," Chow said.

Meanwhile, Sid Miller said that more than 20,000 commercial trucks have been backed up on the border, per Texas Tribune.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Urges Gov. Greg Abbott to End Mexican Truckers Inspection

On Tuesday, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller also issued an open letter to Governor Greg Abbott, urging the inspection among Mexican truckers to be halted.

In the letter, Miller said that Abbot's inspection protocol is not stopping the illegal immigration but instead, it is affecting the food from getting to grocery store shelves, as well as causing other foods to rot in trucks.

Miller then noted that the Border Patrol and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection already have extensive inspections, adding that the state's resources should be allotted where illegal crossing takes place.

El Paso Representative Veronica Escobar took to Twitter on Tuesday to also urge Greg Abbott from stopping the inspections, claiming that the measure would create "catastrophic consequences" for families and businesses.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

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