McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Mandatory commercial truck inspections by Texas state troopers have restarted in Eagle Pass, Texas, a border city that is down to just one international bridge for traffic after a migrant surge forced law enforcement to close the other bridge that leads to Mexico, a state lawmaker told Border Report on Wednesday.
The 100% inspections began Tuesday at the Camino Real International Bridge — also called Bridge 2 — a day after federal officials shut down Bridge 1 in Eagle Pass to all vehicular traffic in order to send U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to help Border Patrol process an onslaught of asylum-seekers under Bridge 2, Texas state Rep. Eddie Morales Jr., a Democrat from Eagle Pass, told Border Report.
“We got people complaining because only one bridge is being used and all the commercial inspections are taking place again. And so that’s also slowing down a lot of commercial traffic,” Morales said via phone from Eagle Pass.
In late September and October, mandatory truck inspections by the state were conducted at Bridge 2, and Bridge 1 was closed to traffic for nearly a month. The bridge closure cost the city about $500,000 in bridge revenue, city officials said.
Texas Department of Public Safety routinely conducts inspections of commercial trucks at ports of entry on the border with Mexico, but when there are increases in migrant traffic, the state will sometimes shift its resources to that area and begin 100% mandatory inspections.
Morales says that’s what has happened in Eagle Pass and it is causing delays for truckers carrying produce and goods from Mexico of upwards of three hours.
“I spoke to the mayor this morning and that’s causing a lot of issues,” Morales said.
He said the number of asylum-seekers who are illegally crossing the swollen Rio Grande from Piedras Negras is not near the 10,000 who were crossing at the end of September when CBP officials last closed Bridge 1 to send their officers to help process the migrants. But he says the numbers are high.
Morales says Mexican authorities need to help stop migrants from trying to illegally cross the river.
“The mayor and or the governor of Coahuila needs to slow down the migrant surge so that these inspections can go away,” Morales said.
Border Report has asked DPS officials how long the inspections will be conducted and why they are targeting that area. DPS Spokeswoman Ericka Miller responded: “At this time, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is conducting enhanced commercial motor vehicle safety inspections at the Eagle Pass and Del Rio Ports of Entry as those vehicles cross into Texas.”
Morales criticized lawmakers in Austin for not passing legislation during the recent 30-day special sessions held by the Texas Legislature that would curtail illegal immigration.
“It’s a ripple effect that we have, again. We cannot continue doing the same thing and expecting different results. We need to think outside the box and address this issue at its core. And it seems that our leadership is not wanting to address that. As you can see, we have perfect opportunity, in Special Session 3 and 4. And we didn’t take advantage of it,” he said.
Lawmakers currently are in their 4th Special Session, which Gov. Greg Abbott called in the hopes of passing legislation on public school vouchers, as well as funding for the state to build more border wall.
Legislation also was passed to allow peace officers to remove those who cross illegally from Mexico into Texas. The bill, SB4, has not yet been signed by Abbott into law.
According to the Rio Grande Guardian, the county judges of Texas’ four largest counties sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking him to stop Senate Bill 4 from going into effect, saying that it would upend immigration law and hurt their relationship with Mexico.
In their letter, Lina Hidalgo of Harris County, Andy Brown of Travis County, and Ricardo Samaniego of El Paso County said, “SB 4 is also a direct violation of the federal government’s jurisdiction over immigration law. It is as unprecedented as Texas trying to declare its own wars. Legislators from both political parties have openly acknowledged that this legislation is unconstitutional.”
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.