AUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott today visited the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Homeland Security (DPS) along the Texas-Mexico border and held a briefing and press conference at the Eagle Pass on Texas’ response to President Biden’s open border policy. The governor was joined by DPS Director Steve McCroy, Texas Adjutant General Thomas Sulzer, State Representative Eddie Morales, Eagle Pass Mayor Rolanda Salinas and National Border Service Vice President Hector Garza.
During a news conference, Gov. Abbott reported on Texas border security strategies along the Rio Grande. Seeking to prevent cartel activity along the Texas-Mexico border, Governor Abbott noted that Texas continues to build up resources – including barbed wire – for border communities to create stronger and more effective barriers to curbing illegal crossings between ports of entry. He also discussed continued Texas efforts in collaboration with Mexican law enforcement partners and the governors of the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Cauaila, Nueva Leon and Tamaulipas, who signed historic memoranda of understanding with Texas on border security last month.
Governor Abbott also spoke in detail about Texas ’continued support for local border communities as they mitigate the massive influx of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs and weapons through the Rio Grande, including continuing bus migrants from Texas to Washington, D.C. The governor announced that a total of 45 buses had left for Washington
“Texas communities bear the brunt of the Biden administration’s open border policy, and Texas will not allow the federal government’s inaction to disrupt the security and safety that Texans deserve,” said Governor Abbott. “Lone Star State will not give up our border security efforts and we will continue to use all resources necessary to prevent the flow of deadly drugs such as fentanyl, smugglers, dangerous criminals and other illegal smugglers from entering Texas Operation Lone Star continues to fill gaps in which the federal government has let the Texans down, and I thank local law enforcement, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard for their continued cooperation in taking unprecedented border protection measures. ”
Governor Abbott has taken significant steps to ensure border security following the inaction of the federal government. These actions include:
- Securing $ 4 billion in funding for Texas Border Security
- Launch Operation Lone Star and Deploy Thousands of Texas National Guard Soldiers and Troops
- Arrest and Detention of Illegal Migrants Violating or Committing Other State Crimes in Texas
- Allocating resources that include the purchase of 1,700 unused steel panels to build a border wall in Texas
- Signing a law to facilitate the prosecution of smugglers who bring people to Texas
- Signing of 15 anti-trafficking laws in Texas
- Signing of a law to strengthen sanctions for the production and distribution of fentanyl
- Issuance of a declaration of disaster for the border crisis
- Issuance of an order banning non-governmental organizations from transporting illegal immigrants
- Apply legal action to enforce the policy of staying in Mexico
- Taking aggressive action to protect the border when President Biden suspends deportations from Chapter 42, including bus transportation of migrants to Washington, DC
- Signing of memoranda of understanding between Texas and the states of Chihuahua, Caahuila, Nueva Leon and Tamaulipas to strengthen border security measures to prevent illegal immigration from Mexico to Texas
- Revitalize the Joint Border Security Operations Center (JBSOC) and lead the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Department of War, and the Texas Emergency Department to coordinate Texas’ border response
Read more about the governor’s additional actions to ensure border security through Operation Lone Star.
