Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent a diplomatic note to the United States this week protesting Texas’ additional truck inspections.
López Obrador accused Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of being politically motivated to enforce additional truck inspections, which he claims are “very irresponsible” and “complicating the migration situation.”
“We are going to send a diplomatic note today to protest the Texas’ governor’s attitude of putting up obstacles to free transit on our borders without any reason, but rather with political motivations,” said López Obrador. “He is using the immigration issue to play politics.”
According to Mexico’s national freight transport chamber, 19,000 trucks were delayed at the Mexico-Texas border. They also claimed the trucks carried about $1.9 billion in goods—severely affecting the cross-border trade.
The move to thoroughly inspect trucks crossing the U.S.-Mexico border follows a surge of illegal aliens using these transportation methods to enter the country through ports of entry.
Last year, in one of the deadliest human smuggling cases in modern history, more than 50 illegal aliens were found dead in an abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio.
Last month, a video captured a train from Zacatecas, Mexico—roughly 585 miles from the Rio Grande River—headed north toward Texas’ southern border with dozens of migrants cheering and hanging from the sides.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced last month they would temporarily suspend cargo processing at the Bridge of the Americas port of entry in El Paso, citing a need for agents to process illegal crossers instead. It recommended that “members of the trade community may consider the nearby Ysleta, Santa Teresa, or Marcelino Serna (Tornillo) cargo facilities as alternative entry points.”
In federal fiscal year 2023, there have already been more than 2.2 million encounters at the southern border, with more encounters expected to increase that total when September’s data is released.
A third special session is currently underway in the Texas Legislature, which calls on lawmakers to address the issues at the southern border, COVID-19 mandates, school choice, and the Colony Ridge development.
Texas Scorecard reached out to Abbott for comment but received no response before publication.