TEXAS — State officials weigh in after Gov. Greg Abbott announced increased commercial vehicle inspections at the border, traffic and trade were snarled for over a week. The governor ended those extra checks on Friday, after announcing agreements with Mexican leaders to increase security on the other side of the border.

Gov. Abbott put the additional inspections in place last week, in response to the Biden administration’s plan to lift the pandemic-era asylum restriction Title 42.

The governor’s policy was blamed for massive supply chain issues, with the mayor of Pharr estimating the economic loss could be up to $1 billion. It also prompted a firestorm of criticism against Abbott, on both sides of the aisle.

One of those vocal critics was the Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. In a statement released Tuesday, Miller called the policy “catastrophic”, and urged the governor to focus instead on fighting to extend Title 42.

 “We have a crisis at the border, a wide open border created by the Biden administration,” said Miller, during an interview on Capital Tonight before the governor lifted the restrictions. “What the governor’s done that I disagree with is, he’s causing a backlog. So he’s causing a second crisis, on top of the crisis we already have. We already have supply chain issues, and this complicates that even more.”

Before the extra inspections were lifted, Miller warned it could lead to higher prices and food shortages.

“The sad part about it is that it doesn’t fix the immigration problem at all,” said Miller. “And consumers are going to pay more for their goods.”

 After Miller released his statement, Gov. Abbott called him “uninformed” during a press conference.

 "Well, he’s kind of right,” said Miller, laughing. “He hasn’t informed me of anything. But on the other hand, I’ve been quite informed by the Trucker’s Association, by the International Produce Association. We are shutdown. It’s all come to a grinding halt.” 

Ultimately, Miller says he still supports Abbott, and hopes to work with him on border security in the future.

“I respect the governor. I’m going to support him. I want to work with him on this. Let’s go back to the drawing board. Let’s sit down with other statewide officials and see what we can do to attack this problem.”