Texas enhanced safety checkpoints frustrate businesses; New Mexico law enforcement caught off guard

EL PASO, Texas- Enhanced safety inspections continued into a second day along Highway 178, where miles of trucks lined up waiting. 

The inspection point was set up by Texas Department of Public Safety officials Monday on morning at 6 a.m. and were to end at 6 p.m. according to Sgt. Eliot Torres , DPS spokesperson for the El Paso area. 

When ABC-7 asked for more information regarding the surprise secondary inspection, Sgt. Torres referred questions to the state office. 

Business leaders in the Santa Teresa industrial area say their deadlines are being missed, costing businesses money. 

Jerry Pacheco with the New Mexico Border Industrial Association told ABC-7, “many of the drivers who were forced into the secondary inspection were not out of Mexico and were not needed to be inspected." 

Pacheco added, “These inspections are hurting commerce in the area tremendously.” 

Doña Ana Sheriff Kim Stewart explained ABC-7 that they had not been notified of the secondary inspections and were worried about the congestion that was taking place before the trucks entered Texas. 

ABC-7 spoke with Robert Lopez with the New Mexico Office of Emergency Management, who said, “The Texas Department of Public Safety did not reach out to our office. Being that it is not yet considered an emergency we can only monitor the situation from a distance.” 

Texas state officials have yet to comment on the secondary inspections after ABC-7 has reached out.