State troopers set up checkpoints on Louisiana-Texas border
Texas has set up road checkpoints along the Louisiana border as it increases enforcement of Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order requiring visitors from the neighboring state to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Abbott and Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen tweeted about the checkpoints Sunday, with the latter describing them as “roadway screening stations to gather [required] forms” for self-quarantining. Abbott’s order, issued March 29, requires drivers coming in to Texas from Louisiana to fill out a form designating a quarantine location in Texas.
“On Sunday, April 5, 2020, checkpoints and screening of vehicles by the Texas Department of Public Safety began on all roadways entering Texas from Louisiana,” the Louisiana State Police wrote Sunday morning on Facebook, attaching photos of signs pointing drivers off of highways to checkpoints.
DPS, which is tasked with enforcing Abbott’s order, did not immediately respond to a request for additional information on the checkpoints.
DPS initially said it did not plan to establish checkpoints at the border but vowed to “vigorously” enforce Abbott’s multiple self-quarantine requirements. He has also mandated 14-day self-quarantines for air travelers from Louisiana, as well as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit and Miami.
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