At the same time the Texas governor is performing the stunt of sending migrants to Washington DC to get some Fox News love, he also has ordered Texas state police to inspect all commercial deliveries crossing the border from Mexico.
There are federal inspections already in place for truckers, but Abbott now has sent his own police squad to disrupt commercial transportation of goods.
Instead of acting like a real governor, Abbott's focus has been on "owning the libs" and attacking President Biden's policies. Abbott is obviously banking on favorable coverage from right-wing media outlets, but he's causing food shortages for Texans everywhere in the state. And charging them for the privilege.
Abbott knows he's causing major delays and is still doing it.
On April 6th, Gov. Abbott said. "I know in advance this is going to dramatically slow traffic from Mexico into Texas."
In other words, screw Texas!
"One of our customers canceled the order because we didn’t deliver on time,” said Modesto Guerra, sales manager for Sterling Fresh Inc., which imports broccoli from Central Mexico via the Pharr bridge before shipping it to the Midwest and East Coast. “It’s something beyond our control,” reports the Texas Tribune.
In response to this idiotic move by Gov. Abbott, hundreds of trucks are blocking several routes into Texas from Mexico in protest.
Texas Public Radio is also reporting, "Last week, commercial transport drivers shut down several international bridges with Mexico by creating traffic blockades in protest of additional inspections ordered by Gov. Abbott. The order increased inspection times from hours to days. The governor ordered the inspections in response to President Biden’s plan to end the use of Title 42 to expel migrants who seek asylum at the border."
This is an actual real protest by truckers over the abuse by Abbott -- and not some right-wing funded anti-vax Freedom nonsense.
The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas is not happy either.
“Adding an additional Texas DPS inspection once trucks have crossed the border is causing serious delays with no commensurate increase in border safety,” said Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas in a letter to Abbott. “Unfortunately, delays from DPS inspections mean that up to 80% of perishable fruits and vegetables have been unable to cross daily. This is causing losses of millions of dollars a day for employers and employees who have been idled.”
