Trucker protests dwindle at border

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday said he would stop additional inspections at one bridge in Laredo after reaching a security agreement with the governor of Mexico’s bordering Nuevo Leon state. Abbott said commercial trucks elsewhere would continue to undergo inspections until leaders of three other neighboring Mexican states also reached security agreements with Texas. Truck drivers blocked border crossings in protest this week after Abbott’s new measure, which he said would tackle illegal migration and drug flow, caused long delays.

How is traffic flowing? Customs officials said protests at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge wrapped up by Wednesday afternoon, allowing commercial traffic to resume. Operations also resumed at the border crossing in El Paso. Mexico said cross-border traffic dropped to a third of normal levels since the inspections began. Importers say the long wait times have already damaged some produce shipments.

Dig deeper: Read my earlier report about the truck protest in The Sift.