Texas Steps Up Safety Inspections Along Ports of Entry
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With extra holiday congestion at the El Paso border, Texas Department of Public Safety officers are conducting random enhanced inspections on commercial vehicles as they cross international ports of entry from Mexico into Texas to combat illegal activity.
“Cartels do not care about the condition of the vehicles they send into Texas any more than they do about the human lives they cram into tractor-trailers or those lost to a fentanyl overdose,” said DPS director Steven McCraw about the initiative, announced in a Dec. 13 news release. “For security reasons the department does not discuss operational specifics, but we hope that frequent enhanced commercial vehicle safety inspections will help deter cartel smuggling activity along our southern border while increasing the safety of our roadways.”
The heightened security comes at a time when traffic along the border is set to increase; U.S. Customs and Border Protection expanded operating hours for commercial and pedestrian traffic at the El Paso port of entry into Texas from Mexico from Nov. 16 through Jan. 7.
DPS Begins Enhanced Commercial Vehicle Safety Inspections at Ports of Entry Along Texas Border
AUSTIN – On Tuesday, December 13, 2022, @TxDPS began conducting enhanced commercial vehicle safety inspections at random as they cross international ports of entry (POEs) into Texas. — Texas DPS (@TxDPS) December 13, 2022
Cargo times for commercial imports at the Bridge of the Americas had been extended by two hours through Dec. 16, with a possible extension depending on workload.
Provencio
El Paso port director Ray Provencio noted that the lengthened times helped facilitate travel and trade traffic during the holidays.
Earlier this year, heightened safety inspections in Texas that aimed to combat smuggling from foreign drug cartels caused massive truck backups at the border, and forced drivers to wait for hours in traffic jams without bathroom facilities or food.
In April, American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear asked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (who launched the extra commercial vehicle inspections with the state DPS) to stop the effort due to additional stress placed on the supply chain and workers. “These duplicative screenings of commercial vehicles on our southern border are unleashing a negative, tangible downstream impact, hurting businesses and employees in other parts of the country who have no say and no responsibility over federal border policy,” Spear noted at the time.
Abbott stopped the inspections after signing pacts with several Mexican officials on border security.
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