TEXAS’ National Guard were seen patrolling the border at Eagle Pass on Monday, as the row over security and migration continued between the state and federal government.
Troops, fencing, gates and razor wire can be seen along the border area.
The Texas National Guard took control of the border at Shelby Park on January 11, following an order from Governor Greg Abbott.
A spokesperson for Abbott argued that.
“Texas is holding the line at our southern border with miles of additional razor wire and anti‐climb barriers to deter and repel the record‐high levels of illegal Immigration invited by President Biden’s reckless open border policies… The Biden administration allows unfettered access for Mexican cartels to smuggle people into our country,” according to Spokesperson for Texas Gov. Abbott.
Texas authorities blocked US Border Patrol agents from a 2.5 mile or 4 kilometer area in the Eagle Pass, which had seen a surge of migrant crossings.
Three migrants–a woman and two children, were subsequently found to have drowned, and state and federal officials are blaming each other for this tragedy.
Last week, the state’s attorney general rejected a request from the Biden administration to grant federal immigration staff full access to the area.
Texas has also erected razor wire and fencing in the Park, despite a Supreme Court ruling against it last week.
“The Supreme Court needs to stay out of it, I think the governor is doing what he is supposed to do, protect our borders. And it’s in the Constitution to arm ourselves and protect ourselves. The Supreme Court found a loophole or something. I don’t know what it is, but they are not doing what they are supposed to be doing, they are not protecting us and they are not protecting our country. I’m really proud of Texas right now, I know there are 25 other states behind us. We need to protect ourselves,” Attorney General stated.
Governor Abbott promised to increase the amount of razor wire and state patrols.
Federal officials have said they may remove the barriers, stating that Immigration law was under their jurisdiction, with the Biden administration accusing the state of stopping border patrols processing migrants and helping those in need.
In December 2023, border crossings were reportedly as high as 10,000 people per day, according to media reports.
Additionally, the US border patrol had 6.3-M encounters with illegal immigrants crossing illegally in the border in January 2021 to December 2023.
Of this number, 4 million were in border sectors that are partly in Texas.
The US Department of Homeland Security estimates that about 1.6-1.8-M illegal immigrant “Gotaways” entered without being apprehended by Border Patrol.
The alarming surge of illegal border crossers prompted Texas Governor Abbott to launch Operation Lone Star, which allowed the deployment of the Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other law enforcement personnel to support border security in March 2021.
And while this operation was met by criticism from the Biden administration, 25 republican governors issued a letter expressing solidarity with governor abbot in securing the border.
“We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border,”
according to Republican Governors Association.
They also criticized the Biden administration and said that Texas has every legal justification to protect the sovereignty of states and the nation.
“Because the Biden Administration has abdicated its constitutional compact duties to the states, Texas has every legal justification to protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation,” Republican Governors Association, added.
