Mexican Governors, Abbott Ink Deals to Close New Texas Border Checkpoints

Three Mexican governors signed an agreement with Texas Governor Greg Abbott and a fourth accord is imminent to end additional vehicle inspections at ports. The deals are contingent on Mexican authorities improving their security operations to curb human smuggling and drug trafficking.

On Friday afternoon, Tamaulipas Governor Francisco Cabeza de Vaca is expected to meet with Abbott to sign a deal between Texas and Tamaulipas, marking the fourth state in the collaboration. Earlier this week, the governors from Coahuila and Chihuahua agreed to set up security checkpoints, increase patrols, and other measures to better curb smuggling. The Governor of Nuevo Leon, Samuel Garcia Sepulveda, was the first to meet with Abbott.

The agreements come after Abbott sent state troopers to international ports of entry to carry out intensive inspections on trucks entering the country — in additional to the federal searches. The move was a part of a series of measures ordered in response to the Biden Administration’s plan to stop using Title 42 for removing migrants. According to various government officials and some border politicians, the end of Title 42 would cause a dramatic increase in human smuggling.

The mayor of McAllen posted a video and sent a letter to Biden asking him to reconsider keeping Title 42 due to the dramatic effect that it would have on his city.

Since Texas authorities implemented the checkpoints, cross-border commerce was dramatically impacted as commercial truckers had to wait hours to be able to cross from Mexico. Truckers in Mexico held protests and even blocked some ports of entry. Gunmen from the Gulf Cartel even torched trucks this week in protest.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.