Two Texas border bridges reopened Wednesday after commercial traffic was momentarily halted due to truck drivers’ protests about increased inspections of cargo entering from Mexico.
Mexican drivers lifted their blockades on the Mexican side of the Ysleta-Zaragoza Bridge near El Paso and the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, which connects the Mexican city of Reynosa to the Texas town of Pharr.
The blockades began as a protest against long lines at the bridges caused by increased inspections imposed by Gov. Greg Abbott by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
“Protests at the Port of Pharr have ended, and the port is now open for business,” Armando Taboada, assistant director of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) field operations at the Laredo Field Office, stated in an email to the trade community on Wednesday.
Last week, Abbott promised heightened border security measures aimed at preventing large numbers of migrants from entering the state illegally.
The inspections are in addition to those regularly carried out by CBP and the US Border Patrol.
Protests near El Paso’s Ysleta-Zaragoza International Bridge ceased at 10 p.m. CBP spokesman Roger Maier told FreightWaves on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, truck drivers from Mexico briefly clogged the commercial lanes at the Santa Teresa, New Mexico, port of entry.
While the protests in El Paso and Pharr have ceased, Abbott stated that DPS will continue its intensified inspections.
Abbott and Samuel Garca, governor of the Mexican state of Nuevo León, stated at a news conference in Laredo that DPS inspections at the Laredo-Colombia Solidarity International Bridge will resume “essentially immediately.”
Garca and Abbott agreed on increased border security measures, including patrols and checkpoints in Nuevo León, to prevent migrants from crossing the US-Mexico border.
“I look forward to working with the other [Mexican] governors who have bridges going into Texas, and I hope we can reach similar accords,” Abbott added. “Until those agreements with those states are reached, the Texas Department of Public Safety will continue to carefully check automobiles entering the United States from every state except Nuevo León.”
Taboada stated that considerable waits are to be expected in Pharr and other Texas international bridges until the DPS concludes the increased inspections. In some places, the checks have resulted in hours-long waits.
“Texas DPS will continue to conduct safety inspections as usual, which will have an impact on trade flow,” Taboada added.
