The point is to get governors and mayors in northern Mexico where the maquiladoras [oursourced U .S outsourcing factories] are, to start complaining to [Mexican President Andrés Manuel López] Obrador, and Obrador is then going to complain to the American ambassador. Then it’s going to go to the State Department, and then Biden is going to have to do something.

As you have explained, the cartels that smuggle illicit contraband and people across our southern border do not care about the condition of the vehicles they send into Texas any more than they care who overdoses from the deadly fentanyl on board. In response to this threat, which is projected to grow in the coming months, I hereby direct the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to conduct enhanced safety inspections of vehicles as they cross international ports of entry into Texas. These inspections should begin immediately to help ensure that Texans are not endangered by unsafe vehicles and their unsafe drivers.

At the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, 2,516 commercial trucks crossed on Thursday, a 35% decline compared to the same day last week before Abbott’s measures were announced, according to CBP data.

Commercial truck traffic at Laredo’s Colombia-Solidarity Bridge was 2,233 on Thursday, an 11% decline compared to last Thursday.