White House slams Texas for creating overnight border lines with clampdown on trucks

The inspections put in place by the governor have caused delays as long as 36 hours

White House press secretary Jen Psaki slammed Texas Governor Greg Abbott for instituting inspections that have caused a days-long lineup of trucks at the US-Mexico border.

Last week, Mr Abbott ordered Texas’ Department of Public Safety to conduct enhanced inspections of commercial vehicles crossing from Mexico into the Lone Star State under the guise of restricting immigration into the state.

But the inspections have led to long delays up to 36 hours at points of entry at the border. Mexican truck drivers also staged a protest that stopped traffic at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge on Monday, according to MyRGV News.

Ms Psaki slammed Mr Abbott’s ordinances as unnecessary and affecting the national economy.

“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,” she said in a statement Wednesday.

Business groups and even Texas’ Republican Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller have criticised Mr Abbott’s move.

“Your inspection protocol is not stopping illegal immigration,” Mr Miller said in a letter to Mr Abbott, according to the Texas Tribune. “It is stopping food from getting to grocery store shelves and in many cases causing food to rot in trucks — many of which are owned by Texas and other American companies.”

Ms Psaki said that Mr Abbott’s actions will stop the continuous flow of trade and make it harder for US Customs and Border Protection to do its job.

“Governor Abbott’s actions are impacting people’s jobs, and the livelihoods of hardworking American families,” she said.