Governor Abbott’s Border Safety Inspections Cost United States $9 Billion, Texas Lost $4.3 Billion
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2022
Texas Governor Gregg Abbott’s unnecessary safety inspections of Mexican commercial vehicles at the Texas-Mexico border during April 6-15, 2022 cost the United States almost $9 Billion in Gross Domestic Product, including $4.23 Billion to Texas’ Gross Domestic Product.
Abbott implemented the enhanced safety inspections policy in retaliation of President Biden’s decision not to renew the enforcement of Title 42 Health protocols to deport undocumented immigrants seeking asylum in the United States scheduled to lapse on May 23, 2022.
Waco, Texas-based The Perryman Group, led by Dr. Ray Perryman, a highly regarded economist, did an economic impact study of Abbott’s Border safety inspections at seven Texas-Mexico Ports of Entry and found that the United States took a $8.97 Billion hit to the economy with Texas sustaining a loss of $4.23 billion.
The City of Pharr, Texas estimated its losses at its Pharr-Reynosa Port of Entry at $1 Billion per day. 
Many agricultural importing companies in the Río Grande Valley reported tons of fruit and vegetables rotting in trucks waiting between 6-15 hours to cross into Texas from Mexico as a result of the Abbott-ordered safety inspections by Texas Department of Public Safety Officers (DPS). These DPS inspections were done after the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had already conducted its own extensive inspections.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller criticized Abbott’s safety inspections as being nothing more than political theater and a political stunt, causing valuable jobs, price increases at the super market for consumers, and inflicting severe supply chain delays to American and Canadian manufacturers.
Texas Democratic Party nominee for Governor, Beto O’Rourke, stated Abbott’s safety inspections “jacked up inflation, increased prices at our stores, hurt Texas businesses, killed jobs, and shut down billions of dollars in trade,”
The Eagle Pass Port of Entry also sustained losses in traffic of commercial vehicles and bridge revenues.
Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. penned a letter to Governor Abbott on April 13, 2022 requesting that he cease the DPS safety inspections because they were causing “major commercial backups and adding transport delays to an already unsteady supply chain.” Salinas offered to meet with Abbott and his advisors to discuss “ how we can all help with the immigration issues without impeding trade and commerce.” Salinas added the Eagle Pass Port of Entry is ranked the eighth largest with over $33 Billion of exports and imports between the United States and Mexico.
In the end, Abbott’s safety inspections did not find any drugs, undocumented immigrants, or contraband entering Texas from Mexico during the 10 days period.
