A judge in Texas has written an open letter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, urging him to move his business to the state.
Democratic Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez wrote a letter Monday touting the state’s “motivated, pro-business” governor, Greg Abbott, and said his county is open for Musk’s business after the tycoon expressed displeasure with operating out of California amid the coronavirus.
“I have recently read of your displeasure with authorities in California and your desire to relocate to Texas ‘immediately.’ I wanted to reach out to you to let you know that Hidalgo County, Texas is available to immediately accommodate you and Tesla Motors,” Cortez wrote.
“We have a community of manufacturing facilities called maquiladoras that operate on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, based in Hidalgo County, which caters to automobile manufacturing operations in Monterrey, Mexico — a short two hours away and contributes to Mexico now being the fourth largest automotive exporter in the world,” he added.
Hey @elonmusk: Hidalgo County @JudgeCortez and @GovAbbott are ready to accommodate @Tesla. @john_jwitt #HidalgoCounty #WelcomeTesla pic.twitter.com/YSINvFM8Ca
— Hidalgo County (@HidalgoCounty) May 11, 2020
Musk responded to the letter saying only, “Note is much appreciated.”
Last week, Musk threatened to move Tesla from California to either Texas or Nevada after the local health department said the company had not “been given the green light” to resume operations.
He tweeted Monday that he was willing to face jail time for reopening his plant in Fremont, California, and has sued Alameda County over the shutdown orders.
“Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules,” Musk tweeted Monday. “I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”
