Migrants and activists demonstrate against Title 42 in Tijuana, Mexico, on March 22. Mexican truckers have blocked a key border crossing in Texas over Gov. Greg Abbott's response to the Biden administration's plans to end the rule. File Photo by Joebeth Terriquez/EPA-EFE
April 11 (UPI) -- Commercial traffic at a key South Texas border crossing stopped Monday after Mexican truckers protesting new restrictions imposed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott' blocked an international bridge.
The north- and southbound lanes on the Mexico side of the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge south of McAllen, Texas, were at a standstill due to the protest of Abbott's decision to have Texas state troopers inspect northbound commercial vehicles -- historically a job done by the U.S. federal government.
The bridge 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.
"One of our customers canceled the order because we didn't deliver on time," said Modesto Guerra, sales manager for Sterling Fresh Inc., which imports broccoli from Central Mexico via the Pharr bridge before shipping it to the Midwest and East Coast. "It's something beyond our control."
While many companies cross perishable foods in refrigerated trucks, Guerra said the bottlenecks could lead to equipment failures that cause produce and other products to spoil in the heat.
"Those refrigerated units are powered by diesel," Guerra said. "These trucks are in line and when the diesel runs out they have no way of refueling."
Abbott last week ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to increase its inspections of commercial vehicles 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.
The governor contends that drug cartels use commercial vehicles 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 the El Mañana newspaper in Reynosa that they had waited three to four days at the international bridge and were running out of fuel while they waited.
Abbott's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, joined a chorus of elected officials from the border who called on Abbott to rethink his strategy, saying the DPS inspections duplicate inspections already conducted by the federal government at the ports of entry.
"Governor Abbott's unnecessary secondary inspections are killing business on the border," Gonzalez said in a written statement to The Texas Tribune. "If this continues it will cause further supply line issues impacting America. And we will see prices of produce and other imports rise at the grocery store. He needs to allow the U.S. Customs and Border [Protection] inspection folks to do their job."
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune. Read the original here.
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