AUSTIN, Texas — The Department of Public Safety is now conducting enhanced vehicle safety inspections at random international ports of entry into Texas.
DPS made the announcement on Tuesday.
DPS Director Steve McCraw says he hopes frequent commercial vehicle safety inspections will help deter cartel smuggling along the southern border and increase the safety of our roadways.
DPS would not go into specifics into their operation for security reasons.
They say the checks will be at random, but it's important to note the plan does not say every truck will be inspected.
So this new plan is different from what was seen earlier this year. Back in April, Abbott ordered DPS to inspect every truck passing through a port of entry.
Abbott received criticism from Custom Border Protection, Democrats, and even his own party from folks like Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.
Trucks were stuck at the southern border for up to five hours, causing supply chain issues.
After reaching an agreement with several Mexican governors, Abbott agreed to stop the enhanced inspections after about a week, saying DPS would resume random inspections.
The caveat was migration would need to decrease or he would reimpose enhanced inspections.
A check of Governor Abbott’s Twitter pages and his website shows he has not given any public reaction to this new DPS plan.
In a statement from DPS Director McCraw, he writes:
“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."
It’s not clear if the enhanced vehicle inspections announcement has anything to do with the 1,500 migrants who crossed the Rio Grande into El Paso Sunday night.
It also comes as Title 42 is expected to end next week.
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