Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has opened two additional bridges that connect Texas and Mexico, citing two new agreements with Mexican border states on increasing security. But the increased inspections, which have caused millions of dollars in damaged produce and backlogged deliveries, have resulted in bipartisan anger at the governor.
Gov. Greg Abbott , who for days has allowed commercial trucks to backup for miles into Mexico after requiring them to stop for additional inspections in Texas, lifted that order for bridges in El Paso and other cities after announcing a new security agreement with the neighboring Mexican states of Chihuahua and Coahulia.
Many truck drivers grew frustrated after waiting at least a full day to get their trucks inspected at the crossing.
The rollbacks come as Abbott has faced intensifying pressure over the policy he rushed into place April 6 as part of an ongoing fight with the Biden administration over the flow of migrants and drugs. Inspection orders remain in other parts along Texas’ 1,200-mile border, including the busy Rio Grande Valley, but Mexican trade leaders were optimistic those would also end soon.
Abbott is fighting a war to keep the Biden administration from causing a humanitarian catastrophe at the Texas border when he lifts the Trump-era pandemic rule known as Title 42 next month.
Biden’s own DHS estimates that 18,000 illegals will show up at the border every day once Title 42 is lifted. That’s twice the number currently seen crossing. Where is Biden going to put them all? If history is any guide, he will arrange for the illegal aliens and asylum seekers to move on into the country as quickly as possible with very little vetting. They may — or may not — be given a court date in the future to appear to plead their case.
But the asylum seekers are only part of the problem. For two years, younger, single men have been sent home once caught at the border instead of being released until their court date. Where will all these single men go after Title 42 is lifted? Abbott doesn’t want Texas towns to find out.
Related: Manchin: Ending Title 42 Border Protections a ‘Frightening Decision’
The immediate challenge is making the Mexican government a partner in the security and safety of Texans.
Mr. Abbott and Chihuahua Gov. María Campos Galvan said in Austin that they had reached an agreement for Chihuahua to do safety checks on trucks in Mexico. The move should allow traffic to flow smoothly again over bridges that border the Mexican state, including in El Paso, where long delays and ensuing protests by Mexican truckers led to hourslong waits and temporary closure of three bridges.
“There is an urgency now to reach deals that there wasn’t before,” Mr. Abbott said of the trade impacts.
Meanwhile, another bus full of illegal aliens the Biden administration released in Texas towns made it to Washington, D.C., and passengers disembarked a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol building.
The second group of undocumented migrants who volunteered to take a charter from the Texas border to Washington D.C. on a bus provided by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott arrived in the nation’s capital Thursday morning.
The first group arrived the day before. Abbott’s office confirmed the arrival of the first group saying the busing strategy is part of his “response to the Biden Administration’s decision to end Title 42 expulsions” next month.
“As the federal government continues to turn a blind eye to the border crisis, the State of Texas will remain steadfast in our efforts to fill in the gaps and keep Texans safe,” said Abbott in a prepared statement. “By busing migrants to Washington, D.C., the Biden Administration will be able to more immediately meet the needs of the people they are allowing to cross our border. Texas should not have to bear the burden of the Biden Administration’s failure to secure our border.”
Abbott is being criticized harshly for his “grandstanding.” But what will the critics say when the worsening chaos at the border results in deaths because of the stupidity of throwing the gates open and inviting throngs of people to come in?
