Razor wire, an expanded border wall, and law enforcement – welcome to 2023 and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s plans to further secure the southern border.
Abbott wrote on Twitter earlier this week, “Texas National Guard are installing additional layers of razor wire in high-traffic areas for illegal crossings at the Texas-Mexico border. They’re working around the clock to secure the border in the federal government’s absence.”
In addition to adding razor wire to border fencing at the start of 2023, Abbott announced that Texas will also be “adding miles more of border wall. And we are turning back thousands of immigrants trying to enter illegally.”
The Texas governor has taken many actions over the past two years to secure the southern border, including implementing Operation Lone Star, which deployed the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to the border. Abbott also secured $4 billion to further secure the border.
“Governor Abbott directed the Texas National Guard and DPS [Department of Public Safety] to use every available resource and innovative strategies to combat this massive surge of illegal immigration, including arresting and jailing criminal trespassers, turning back and repelling illegal immigrants, installing container blockades and razor wire to stem the flow of illegal crossings, and deploying an elite border taskforce to catch gotaways,” Renae Eze, a spokesperson for Abbott’s office, told The Daily Signal.
Abbott praised the work of the Texas Department of Public Safety in a “2022 Annual Wrap-Up” video published on Twitter Wednesday. Abbott thanked the work of the public safety troopers, the Texas National Guard, Texas sheriffs, and law enforcement across the state.
According to the video, the Texas Department of Public Safety reports “91,959 illegal immigrant apprehensions and referrals” and “over 138 million lethal doses of fentanyl seized” in addition to “over 25K LBS of meth seized” in 2022.
“Texas continues stepping up to help our local partners and protect Texans—it’s time for President Biden and Congress to step up and do their job to secure our border,” Eze said.
Abbott continues to send some of the illegal aliens on buses to cities across America. He wrote on Twitter Tuesday: “As of today, Texas has bused more than 16,500 migrants to sanctuary cities.”
“We’ll continue providing relief to overwhelmed border communities as Biden refuses to secure the border,” he added.
As of today, Texas has bused more than 16,500 migrants to sanctuary cities.
?? Over 9,100 to DC
?? Over 5,100 to NYC
?? Over 1,500 to Chicago
?? Over 840 to PhiladelphiaWe'll continue providing relief to overwhelmed border communities as Biden refuses to secure the border.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 3, 2023
“Governor Abbott’s frustration at the Biden administration’s deliberate policy decision not to secure the border is understandable and shared by millions of Americans,” Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)
“Unfortunately, without federal leadership, efforts by border governors like Abbott and [former Arizona Gov. Doug] Ducey can only delay or re-direct the illegal flow, never prevent or reduce it,” Hankinson said. He argued that the Biden administration’s border plan is unsustainable:
Biden’s national immigration strategy is to allow unlimited numbers of foreigners to enter the U.S. then process, parole, and punt them into the 10-million-case backlogs at USCIS [United States Citizenship and Immigration Services] and immigration courts, where they will remain for years. DHS [Department of Homeland Security] is asking Congress for billions of dollars but intends to put it all into the Mayorkas Migration Machine – while continuing to de-fund and undermine efforts to deter, detain, and deport people who enter the U.S. illegally. Biden already has the legal and physical means to prevent the unprecedented mass rushing of our borders, but he chooses not to do so. This dereliction of duty by an American president will write a shameful page in history.
Abbott’s work to further secure the Texas border comes shortly after the Supreme Court ruled to temporarily block the Biden administration from ending Title 42, an emergency health measure that allows Border Patrol to quickly expel illegal migrants.
But even with Title 42 in place, Border Patrol reports over 2 million encounters with illegal aliens across the border in fiscal year 2022, which ended Sept. 30. In October, Customs and Border Protection reported 231,294 illegal alien encounters and 233,740 more in November.
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The post Abbott Says Texas Will Secure Its Border in ‘Federal Government’s Absence’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.
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