Trucks Backed up to the Horizon
& Teenage Smugglers, Plus A High Speed Chase Enters City Limits
It’s been a few days since Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced plans to smother international freight between Mexico and the US, with “enhanced” safety inspections at all Texas Ports of Entry.
The always excellent Todd Bensman reports, a small handful of DPS safety inspectors at the International Bridges in Pharr/Reynosa and Laredo/Nuevo Laredo have resulted in trucks backing up to the horizon, and howls of displeasure from shippers, receivers and freight forwarders upset with the delays.
The theory goes that the slowdowns will put increased pressure on the federal government and the Mexican Government to do something to stop the expected waves of illegal aliens from Central America and the Caribbean and elsewhere that are said to be waiting for “Title 42” to officially expire.
The Department of Homeland Security estimates that an additional 18,000 individuals will begin coming over the border every day once it does— that’s roughly 500-thousand every month.
“Title 42” is a covid-19 related policy that the CDC and others say is no longer valid, even though Americans are being told to continue masking up in airports and on airplanes.
Live webcams available online at the Cities of Laredo and Pharr websites show mostly clear bridges at the hour we’re writing this, but it is a certainty that as the sun climbs higher, and employees begin reporting to work, the 18-wheelers will commence backing up to the horizon once again.
We’re going to link to Bensman’s reporting again, here— because it’s worth your attention, for a breakdown of just how much trade moves through the ports in both locations, the reaction U.S. Shippers are already having, and precisely why this may be the most effective portion of Governor Abbott’s plan that we mostly made fun of in our previous dispatch.
We could duplicate Bensman’s efforts, switch a few words around like some kind of a word-shyster, but better for everyone to just get it straight from the tap.
The photos of backed up traffic are an eerie reverse parallel to what I-35 was like back in the late 90s before authorities were able to re-route international freight to other bridges. Back then, all the trucks sat on I-35 all the way down to bridge number 2, and there was no other option. At peak hours 18-wheelers would back up all the way to the Northern edge of the City and beyond, for miles, well on the way to Encinal and Cotulla.
Since then, most freight gets rerouted to the west, and bridges 3 and 4.
Here are the links to the live webcam pages in Laredo, and Pharr. Recommend checking them out sometime around 2:00 PM for what’ll probably be peak congestion.
A recent article in the Washington Examiner digs into recent reports out of Kinney County about increased amounts of teenage smugglers, recruited on tiktok and other social media.
It’s actually something that’s been going on for about a decade or more. The Cartels recruit youngsters, because the Department of Homeland Security tends not to punish them at all. When they “age out,” the cartels transition them to other work, like smuggling drugs or other more violent activities.
The Examiner also highlights efforts in the Texas Attorney General’s office to try and clamp down on social media companies and the way their platforms are being used by organized crime— but it remains to be seen how responsive Chinese-owned TikTok will actually be.
It should be noted, international terrorists seem able to freely co-ordinate on Facebook and Twitter— most cynics believe that’s because it’s easier for the Federal Government to monitor them— but that’s little comfort for state and local authorities trying to address the waves of youngsters looking for easy money in smuggling illegal aliens.
And finally this morning— word of a police chase that entered city limits in the town of Brackettville.
As we’ve been noting since the inception of the newsletter, high speed pursuits, helicopter overflights, and illegal immigrant bailouts have actually become fairly common in Kinney County, though of late, most pursuits have been kept outside the city limits.
This latest came early Sunday morning, as a pursuit ended on the Northside of town, when a roughly 18 year old driver finally came to a stop— taking out a local resident’s chain-link fence.
Illegal aliens bailed out of the car— said to be owned by the father of the 18-year-old’s 17-year-old girlfriend. A helicopter was overhead for some time, searching for the scattering illegals.
Speculation in town is that a DPS trooper may have made a mistake, beginning a pursuit inside the city limits. Generally speaking, authorities wait for smugglers to be out on the highway before trying to pull them over. It’s not only safer for bystanders, it’s also safer for illegal aliens. With nowhere to really run out in the countryside, it’s easier to find them.
Bailing out in town gives them more places to hide, and increases the odds of encountering an armed citizen who might feel threatened.
It has not escaped our notice that the accused smugglers in this case are both 17 and 18 years old— tying into the previous item in this newsletter. What are the odds they were recruited off of social media?
And on that note, we’ll call it a morning. Have a great one— Easter is on the horizon, confetti eggs, or cascarones, and more are already in local stores. Mind your calories, make room for the chocolate bunnies. Am told the ears are the tastiest parts. Probably just a myth. Been a while since we’ve tried ‘em.
As always, any opinions and errors contained within this newsletter are ours alone— it is produced without oversight or input from Kinney County officials or the Sheriff’s Office which employs us.