Texas Border Business
Laredo, Texas — U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) sent a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) urging him to immediately cease the duplicative inspections at Texas land ports of entry. The secondary inspections have caused major roadway backups at arteries connecting the United States and Mexico. These backups have resulted in a 35%-60% drop in commercial traffic, affecting trade and the supply chain for consumer goods entering the United States.
“Requiring the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to conduct mechanical inspections (breaks, tires etc.) does nothing to address Title 42 except provide costly delays to the United States supply chain. Your duplicative mechanical inspections have been costly to the local, state and national economies. None of the violations from these inspections involve the smuggling of drugs or people,” said Congressman Cuellar.
“These inspections have resulted in a significant increase in commercial wait times at ports of entry. Since the inspections began, the Hidalgo/Pharr port of entry reached a peak wait time of 320 minutes. The average is 63 minutes. The result has been a 35% decrease in commercial traffic. Colombia Solidarity Bridge, which averages a 26-minute wait time, reached a peak wait time of 300 minutes and has seen over a 60% drop in commercial traffic.”
The Congressman continued,“In the interests of all Texans, we must ensure that the state resources are deployed in the most effective manner possible and not to the detriment of the communities that we represent. I am asking you to stand down the DPS inspections immediately. Thank you for your consideration.
To view the full letter, click here.
https://cuellar.house.gov/uploadedfiles/letter_to_governor_abbot_on_operation_lonestar.pdf
To view a fact sheet on the commercial delays, click here.
