Mexico to send diplomatic note protesting Texas border truck inspections causing major delays
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexico's president said Monday he is going to send a diplomatic note to the United States to protest Texas truck inspections that have caused major delays at border crossings.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed Monday that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to enforce additional truck inspections was "very irresponsible" and politically motivated.
Mexico's national freight transport chamber said Sunday that 19,000 trucks were delayed at the border. The freight association claimed the delayed trucks were carrying about $1.9 billion in goods.
It said in a statement that the delays were "severely affecting" cross-border trade.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said it had started "enhanced commercial vehicle safety inspections" on Sept. 19 in crossing around El Paso and Del Rio, Texas, "to deter the placement of migrants and other smuggling activity" and detect unsafe vehicles.
López Obrador claimed it was about politics.
"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," López Obrador said. "He is using the immigration issue to play politics."
Bridge closures and train delays because of the influx of migrants crossing the border have also affected freight traffic in recent weeks.