Proposed bill would study commercial traffic at Texas-Mexico border to improve security
AUSTIN, Texas - Some state lawmakers want the Texas Department of Transportation to conduct a study on commercial traffic at points of entry along the Texas-Mexico border.
According to the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, most hard drugs are seized at security checkpoints along the southern border.
So state lawmakers want TxDOT to perform a study of commercial traffic at Texas-Mexico points of entry.
It would be in support of Operation Lone Star, which the state has spent $4 billion on to date.
Every day, hundreds of passenger and commercial vehicles pass through some 25 international checkpoints along the Texas-Mexico border.
According to the state's top cop, that's how most drugs are making their way into the Lone Star State.
"Clearly the hard drugs, cocaine, meth and heroine and fentanyl cross the ports of entry where most of the seizures occur," Texas DPS Director Col. Steve McCraw said.
A pedestrian walks along a line of cars after the Del Rio Port of Entry was reopened following closure for over a week due to an influx of migrants, mostly Haitian, that had gathered under the bridge at the US-Mexico border in Del Rio, Texas on Septe
McCraw testified before the Senate Committee on Border Security in Austin Thursday.
He was speaking in support of House Bill 4422.
It calls on the Texas Department of Transportation to conduct a study aimed at enhancing border security through public safety, technological, and infrastructure improvements.
"What's the demarcation line where federal authority stops and state authority begins?" a lawmaker asked.
"The federal compound is actually where the inspections exist. CBP inspects the vehicles coming in," replied Caroline Mays, director of planning and modal programs for TxDOT.
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Mays said, while international checkpoints are federal jurisdiction, she believes Customs and Border Patrol agents would be willing to work with the state with the unified goal of making security checkpoints safer and more efficient.
"I think there's a willingness to address these issues moving forward," she said.
"If we had technology employed all the time, it would limit the gaps and would put more pressure on the bridges to either use passenger vehicles or move between the ports," McCraw said.
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott has made the disruption of fentanyl trafficking a high priority for his Operation Lone Star border initiative, but human trafficking is another major concern.
Last year, Gov. Abbott ordered the inspection of all commercial vehicles coming over the southern border in search of illegal immigrants, which created massive bottle necks at ports of entry.
One state lawmaker addressed the issue indirectly.
"And this story could also help us identify how to deal with these types of situations in a much more efficient and faster way that it would have a lot less negative impact on our commerce with Mexico," State Senator Chuy Hinojosa asked.
"Yes sir, absolutely," McCraw responded.
House Bill 4422 was left pending in committee.
If it gets to the floor for a vote, and passes in both chambers, a detailed report would be provided to state leaders no later than December 2024.