White House Blasts Texas for New Border Checks, Blames Gov. Abbott for ‘Significant Disruptions’

DEL RIO, Texas—Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is receiving pressure from the White House and Mexico to end his safety inspections on commercial vehicles entering the United States from Mexico.

“Governor Abbott’s unnecessary and redundant inspections of trucks transiting ports of entry between Texas and Mexico are causing significant disruptions to the food and automobile supply chains, delaying manufacturing, impacting jobs, and raising prices for families in Texas and across the country,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on April 13.

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) started conducting “enhanced commercial vehicle safety inspections” on vehicles traveling from Mexico on April 6, at Abbott’s behest.

The inspections are being conducted on state roads just beyond several ports of entry, which has caused long delays to commercial traffic and caused miles-long lines of trucks into Mexico.