Miguel Roberts | The Brownsville Herald
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers inspect commercial trucking vehicles entering the United States through the Pharr International Bridge Monday after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered increased inspections at the southern port of entries.
More international bridges are closing in the wake of Gov. Greg Abbott’s mandate that calls for troopers with the Texas Department of Transportation to inspect all commercial trucks crossing the Texas-Mexico border.
The Anzalduas International Bridge was shut down Tuesday evening, and additional shutdowns were expected in Brownsville as well, according to Fred Brouwen, director of operations at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge.
“Anzalduas (was) closed about 15 minutes ago, and they’re planning to close Brownsville, as well,” Brouwen told The Monitor late Tuesday evening.
It is unclear which Brownsville port will be affected.
On Monday, a group of Mexican owner/operator truck drivers blocked all traffic going into and out of Mexico at the Pharr bridge after Abbott’s inspection policy left many of them stranded on the bridge for days without access to food, water or restrooms.
DPS began conducting the manual inspections last Thursday, forcing inbound commercial carriers to stop at a small inspection station just a few hundred yards from the Pharr port of entry.
Each inspection was taking up to one hour to complete. The lengthy process soon created a backlog of traffic on the Pharr bridge because DPS — at the height of the inspections — could only complete approximately 100 inspections per day.
Normally, the bridge accommodates some 3,000 crossings per day.
With less than 4% of daily truck traffic making it across the bridge, many of the drivers were caught unaware, with some spending three days or more attempting to make the crossing.
Mexican truckers soon launched a protest against what they called the “inhumane” conditions that Abbott’s inspection process, and the resultant delays, caused.
It remains unclear what is causing the closures at surrounding international bridges — whether the truckers are expanding their blockade, or if bridge officials have ordered the closures.
This is a developing story. [email protected]
