Everything O'Rourke said at the Keystone cold storage facility in Pharr
PHARR, Texas - Joined by trucking company owner and a cold storage facility owner, gubernatorial candidate Beto O\u2019Rourke held a news conference near the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge last week.
The news conference was held inside the Keystone Cold facility on South Keystone Drive in Pharr. Keystone Cold LLC is an independent third party logistics and cold storage warehousing operation serving both small and large importers of fresh fruits and vegetables from Mexico.
O\u2019Rourke held the news conference to protest Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s decision to instruct Department of Public Safety troopers to inspect 100 percent of all commercial vehicles crossing into Texas from Mexico. The inspections caused international bridges to grind to a halt.
\u201cThis is the consequence of meeting the legitimate challenges that we have with the kind of political stunts that Greg Abbott is using right now,\u201d O\u2019Rourke said.
O\u2019Rourke chose Pharr for his news conference because a huge percentage of fresh produce from Mexico crosses the city\u2019s land port of entry.\xa0
According to the City of Pharr, the truck inspections policy caused average border wait times to increase to an average of ten to 12 hours. The average value of produce on each truck is $45,421. The total estimated trade value lost per day was $202 million. The total estimated trade value lost during the week the inspections were in force was $1 billion.
Here is the audio from O\u2019Rourke\u2019s news conference.\xa0
To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.