“[Texas] Governor [Greg] Abbott’s unnecessary and redundant inspections of trucks transiting ports of entry between Texas and Mexico are causing significant disruptions to the food and automobile supply chains, delaying manufacturing, impacting jobs, and raising prices for families in Texas and across the country,” Psaki said in a statement.
According to the White House, Abbott’s decision causes delays of more than five hours and have already resulted in a drop of commercial traffic by 60%.
Last week, Abbott announced the state authorities will conduct enhanced safety inspections of vehicles crossing the US border at international ports of entry. Abbott explained his decision by pointing out that his state is anticipating to see a significant rise in cartel-facilitated smuggling upon the end of Title 42 in May.
The Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) announced it will terminate the Title 42 public health policy on May 23. The policy has been in effect since March of 2020 and was used by the Trump and Biden administrations to turn away thousands of illegal immigrants in an effort to prevent communicable diseases from spreading in the United States.
Earlier in April, a group of Republican US Senators introduced legislation to extend until 2025 the Title 42 policy implemented by the Trump administration that allows for the deportation of illegal immigrants on public health grounds.