WESLACO, Texas (Nexstar) — Gov. Greg Abbott made a fourth deal with the governor of Tamaulipas on Friday, including the final deal with neighboring Mexican governors to roll back Texas commercial vehicle inspections at the southern border that clogged traffic for more than a week.
“We’re showing how border governors can lead the way in solving border problems,” Abbott said at a news conference in Weslaco.
Abbott met with Tamaulipas Governor Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca to discuss how to further secure the border and increase traffic between the states. Abbott agreed to resume vehicle inspections as usual at ports of entry along the border, on the condition that Mexican states increase security measures on their side of the border.
“Clogged bridges can only end with the type of collaboration that we are demonstrating today,” Abbott said Wednesday in his meeting with Nuevo León Governor Samuel Alejandro García Sepúlveda.
Last Wednesday, Abbott ordered state police to conduct “enhanced security screenings” of all vehicles entering the US from Mexico. Ports of entry soon became blocked as travelers had to wait hours for their vehicles to be searched.
The order came as the Biden administration prepares to lift Title 42, a Trump-era policy that pushed immigrants back to their home country during the pandemic.
“We knew that as soon as we did what we did at the border, we would be contacted by Mexican officials, because it’s a very high price to pay in regards to what’s happening at the border,” Abbott said.
On Thursday, Abbott met with the governor of Chihuahua, María Eugenia Campos Galván, and the governor of Coahuila, Miguel Ángel Riquelme Solís.
Campos described the most detailed security plan of the four Mexican governors, citing a $200 million investment to increase security measures. The plan It describes the addition of drone surveillance, databases connected to driver’s license records, and facial recognition features to better identify cartel leaders.
“It’s a win-win situation if we protect our borders and protect the security of our state, like Governor Abbott is doing right now,” he said Thursday.
Abbott said Campos’ proposal was the best border security plan he had seen from any Mexican governor. But Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke was quick to criticize Abbott for promoting the negotiations, citing that Chihuahua started this initiative in December.
“Now he wants credit for putting out the fire by announcing these ridiculous ‘security deals.’ Texans don’t think so, and we will never forget the havoc Abbott has wreaked on our economy and our border communities,” O’Rourke said. “We got literally nothing, literally nothing except higher inflation, economic damage to the state of Texas.”
Abbott’s Democratic opponent was not the only vocal critic. The White House, US Customs and Border Protection and Republican Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller have attributed the inspections to political theater and called them unnecessary.
“Your inspection protocol is not stopping illegal immigration. It’s preventing food from reaching grocery store shelves and, in many cases, causing food to rot in trucks, much of which is owned by Texas and other American companies. It is simply political theater,” Miller’s letter said.
Texas A&M international relations professor Aileen Teague said Abbott’s recent immigration moves have highlighted divisions between Republicans and Democrats following the lifting of Title 42.
“Democrats see the fact that a public health measure is still being used in immigration enforcement, they see it as fundamentally wrong,” Teague said. “On the other hand, Republicans believe that without Title 42, it gives them very little other authority to secure the southern border.”
He said the memorandums of understanding between the governors of Texas and Mexico are historic and unprecedented, and only time will tell if they will be enforceable.
“State entities in Mexico sometimes lack resources.” Teague said. “There are a lot of different factors that go into whether they will be able to meet the standards that Governor Abbott has mandated.”
“If those expectations are not met and we see an increase or even a continuation of the illegal immigration traffic that we are currently seeing, Texas can reinstate enhanced security measures for vehicles crossing the border,” Abbott said at the news conference with cow’s head.
Reference-www.kxan.com