Mexican truckers block one of the main border crossings with the US

Mexican truckers block the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge that connects the city of Reynosa with McAllen, Texas, on April 11. STRINGER (REUTERS)

A barricade of trucks cuts this Tuesday one of the main border crossings between Mexico and the United States.

Mexican carriers have blocked the international bridge that connects Pharr (Texas) and Reynosa (Tamaulipas), on the side of the Latin American country, in protest against the new security measures implemented by the governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott.

The Texan leader announced on April 6 a series of "aggressive actions" to "prevent the flow of drugs, human traffickers, illegal immigrants, weapons and contraband."

Among them, additional inspections carried out by the Department of Public Safety (DPS for its acronym in English).

Mexican truckers assure that the new protocol delays entry into the North American country by up to 15 hours and, therefore,

Abbott, which is part of the most conservative core of the Republican Party, implemented the new measures in response to US President Joe Biden's decision to end Title 42 in May. This regulation, adopted by former President Donald Trump during the pandemic, It allowed, in practice, the hot deportation of migrants who had just crossed the border on the grounds of a health emergency.

Numerous human rights organizations strongly criticized the policy for being contrary to international migration rights treaties.

In fiscal year 2021 alone (from September 2021 to last September), more than one million migrants were expelled under this rule.

Biden's border policy has been constantly attacked by Abbott, who sees it as an open path "for dangerous cartels and deadly drugs to spread into the United States, and this crisis will only get worse with the end of Title 42 removals."

"Texas will immediately take unprecedented action to do what no state has done in American history to secure our border," the Republican added.

“We support Governor Abbott, but unfortunately we are not taken into account.

Slowing down trade is not a solution,”

Ernesto Gaytan, president of the Texas Trucking Association, told

"We are desperate because we have to wait without food, without water and without bathrooms for up to 15 hours to cross into the United States," added Pedro González, a carrier present at the blockade, in statements also collected by the agency.

The protest of the Mexican carriers, which has been going on since last Friday, threatens the Holy Week festivities in the United States.

According to Daniel Galeazzi, the president of the Texas International Produce Association, the blockade has already prevented $30 million worth of food from crossing the border.

But the pressure from the union has not had an effect on the Texan governor.

The Republican has started a crusade that has irregular migration as his main enemy.

Under the name of “Operation Lone Star (Solitary Star)” his administration assures that it has arrested 225,000 migrants, 13,000 criminals and has seized 297 million doses of fentanyl and almost 30 million dollars.

To make his border impregnable, the president has indicated that he will use ship blockades or barbed wire in "low-water crossings and high-traffic areas."

He also said that he will take “the large groups of migrants arriving in Texas” to Washington on chartered buses when Title 42 expires.

The response of the Mexican private sector has not been long in coming.

A score of business organizations have criticized this Tuesday the measures imposed by Abbott.

They assure that the new security protocol disrupts the flow of goods, puts the supply chain at risk and can generate millionaire losses, according to a letter shared with the media and addressed to the governor of Texas.

The letter asks the leader to review his security protocol and reminds him of the millionaire trade relations between the United States and Mexico, in which Texas "represents more than 50% of said trade," according to the

agency .

Meanwhile, at the border, hundreds of Mexican truckers take refuge in the shade provided by their own vehicles and hope that their pressure will force Abbott to abort the measure.

subscribe here

to the

of EL PAÍS México and receive all the informative keys of the current affairs of this country