Texas AG Commissioner calls on Gov. Abbott to end enhanced border inspections; calls policy “catastrophic”
AUSTIN -- Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller called on the Governor Greg Abbott to end enhanced safety inspections of commercials trucks at the border. Miller called it a "catastrophic policy which has now led to Mexican truckers blockading the border."
Miller says the smart way to go would be for Texas to shift its resource to fight the lifting of Title 42. Abbott ordered Texas Department of Public Safety Officers to conduct these inspections as they cross international points of entry into Texas.
According to DPS, as of April 11, the inspections have resulted in 3,443 reviews with 807 vehicles being placed out of service for various safety violations including defective brakes, defective tires and defective lighting.
As man as 79 commercial vehicle drivers were placed out of service. According to the DPS 11,566 violations have been detected.
Commissioner Miller says the additional wait time due to the blockades has added 8 to 12 hours, and have resulted in trucks running out of fuel and produce rotting.
“Up to 20,000 truckers cross the border on a normal day. My reports are that each inspection is taking an hour and has created a backlog with thousands of trucks clogging the border. Refrigerated produce is being ruined as trucks run out of fuel after being in line for over a day,” Miller commented.
“And today the U.S. Labor Department reported the indicators for energy, gasoline, natural gas and electricity are up 32%, 48%, 21.6% and 11.1% over last year, so this inspection program is turning a crisis into a catastrophe,” said Miller.
Miller says Texas should fight the Biden Administration to control immigration in federal court.
