Friday, March 29

Editorial: Mad truckers, molded strawberries latest fruits of Abbott’s border security crackdown


If Abbott is looking for a mess on the border, he should retrace his own steps to the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge where hundreds of truckers Monday protested ballooning wait times stretching into days at the border following Abbott’s latest bit of border meddling.

The governor, who was busy Monday touting the success of his decidedly less than successful Operation Lone Star, directed state troopers last week to conduct their own inspections of incoming commercial vehicles, duplicating a job historically done by federal customs and border protection employees. Those additional checks were running from 45 minutes to an hour, according to the Texas Tribune. The cumulative effect leads to truck drivers having to wait for days to cross.

The situation had been turning sour as drivers run out of fuel and watch their perishable goods go bad.

Delays at the border had been a strain for some time, according to the Texas Tribune, due to a staffing crunch. But this latest intervention courtesy of Abbott stands out as both entirely avoidable and poorly executed. Teclo Garcia, the economic development director for Laredo, told the Texas Tribune that the state didn’t contact local officials before launching its latest overreach during one of the busiest times at the border.

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