“Don't Go Through Tamaulipas”: State Government Will Reinforce Its Filters Against Illegal Migration

The Tamaulipas government reinforced its filters against illegal migration to fulfill its commitments to Texas to curb the flow of migrants to the United States, asking migrants not to attempt to reach the border through the entity.

The announcement was made by the Secretary of Government of Tamaulipas, Gerardo Peña Flores, who explained that on the roads coming from San Luis Potosí, Veracruz and Nuevo León, as well as at the entrances to Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and Matamoros, the review will be reinforced in order to contain migrants.

“We ask and invite those who seek to reach the United States not to pass through Tamaulipas. We are respectful of human rights, but always putting first the interests of the Tamaulipas” (sic), Peña Flores wrote on her Twitter account.

Meanwhile, at a press conference, he asserted that Tamaulipas will honour its commitments to Texas.

“Tamaulipas is going to fulfill the commitment it made to the Texas government to establish these security filters, we are already doing so, every time we detect people in this capacity we will arrest them and we will make them available to the National Institute of Migration,” he emphasized.

“We have always reached out, but this time if we want to send a message, ask and invite those who seek to reach the United States not to pass through Tamaulipas (...) That is why we make this call, to respectfully ask them not to pass through Tamaulipas,” warned the State Secretary of Government.

He noted that although it is the federal government's responsibility to resolve the conflict, he said it was necessary for the entity to meet the demands of the governor of Texas.

“There is not much to argue when it is shown that this is the volume of people who cross at dawn and that unfortunately, the authorities in charge of stopping this type of migration flow do not attend, do nothing or pretend they don't see them,” he said.

Faced with this situation, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in defense of human rights and migrants, warned that strengthening security in Tamaulipas will lead to human rights abuses and violations.

It should be recalled that a few weeks ago, the Texas governor tightened revisions to cargo trucks from Mexico, arguing that it seeks to curb the flow of migrants and drugs.

According to the Mexican business sector, the measure implemented by the Texas government resulted in losses of up to 8 million dollars a day (USD).

“(The) situation has caused delays of up to 20 hours at the crossing of cargo trucks and the drop of more than 70% in trade flow and may cause a collapse in cross-border international trade,” warned several Mexican chambers of business, headed by the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) on April 12.

After the governors of Chihuahua, Maru Campos; of Nuevo León, Samuel García; as well as Tamaulipas, Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca; signed agreements with Greg Abbott, the Texas governor repealed the law ordering the comprehensive review of trailers from Mexico.

However, he assured that if Mexico does not stop migrants before they reach the Rio Bravo, it will reinstate inspections on all cargo vehicles crossing the border.

“We hope and demand that, on the Mexican side, they finally step forward and stop the (migrant) crossings through the low waters (in the Rio Bravo) and in other ways that allow these illegal migrants to cross the border,” the Texas president announced in an interview with Fox News.

Greg Abbott — who is seeking re-election in November this year — assured that his administration would not care “about the economic consequences of reimplementing unilateral transport inspection on border bridges.

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