International trade halted at Texas border crossing as truckers protest Greg Abbott’s new inspections
Next Up:Social media reacts to Turkey Leg Hut's $100…
Most Popular
Social media reacts to Turkey Leg Hut's $100 reservation deposit
Rare man-o'-war-eating species washing ashore Texas coast
Houston faces severe weather with damaging winds, hail on Tuesday
3 Hidalgo staff members indicted in contract award scandal
10 new and noteworthy Minute Maid Park foods, ranked
Former Oilers running back, Dallas Cowboys coach dead at 52
5 Houston tourist traps that are actually worth your time
Actress Emma Watson makes surprise visit to Texas school
The Space City details behind Astros' City Connect uniforms
Jalen Green finished strong, now who's next for Rockets?
I went to the raunchy secret oyster bar where Houston foodies eat
Houston reporter gets leaf blower when asking about scandal
NEWS
International trade halted at Texas border crossing as truckers protest Greg Abbott’s new inspections
Importers said buyers have already canceled orders and the blockade could impact the flow of produce to restaurants and grocery stores around the country.
MITCHELL FERMAN,
JAMES BARRAG N,
URIEL J. GARCIA
Updated: April 11, 2022 5:13 p.m.
International trade halted at Texas border crossing as truckers protest Greg Abbott’s new inspections
International trade halted at Texas border crossing as truckers protest Greg Abbott’s new inspections
REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
Commercial traffic at a key South Texas border crossing has stopped after Mexican truckers on Monday blocked north- and southbound lanes on the Mexico side of the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge in protest of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to have state troopers inspect northbound commercial vehicles — historically a job done by the federal government.
The bridge connecting Pharr and Reynosa is the busiest trade crossing in the Rio Grande Valley and handles the majority of the produce that crosses into the U.S. from Mexico, including avocados, broccoli, peppers, strawberries and tomatoes. On Monday, with trucks backed up for miles in Reynosa for the fifth day in a row, some produce importers in Texas said they have waited days for their goods to arrive and already had buyers cancel orders.
International bridges elsewhere in the Valley, as well as in Eagle Pass, El Paso and Laredo, have also seen delays, with many commercial products produced in Mexico — like electronics, vehicle parts and medical instruments — also held up.
In response to the Biden administration’s recent announcement that it plans to end Title 42 — a pandemic-era emergency health order that lets federal officials turn away migrants at the border without the chance to request asylum — Abbott on Wednesday ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to increase its inspections of commercial vehicles, which he said drug cartels use to smuggle humans and drugs into the United States.
At times, DPS troopers appear to be checking every commercial vehicle that crosses select international bridges, with each inspection taking between 45 minutes and an hour.
Mexican news outlets reported that about 500 truckers are blocking southbound traffic into Mexico to prevent the entrance of U.S. trucks. Truckers told El Mañana in Reynosa that they had waited three to four days at the international bridge and were running out of fuel while they waited.
One trucker told the news outlet that prior to Abbott’s order, he made two crossings into the U.S. a day. Now, he’d be lucky to have one or two a week given the long delays at the bridges.
https://www.chron.com/news/local/article/International-trade-halted-at-Texas-border-17073724.php
''Stopping the flow of humans?''