Texas Governor Greg Abbott reaffirmed the state’s authority to safeguard its border against migrant crossings during a press conference held in Eagle Pass on Sunday.
Abbott, along with 13 Republican governors, criticized the Biden administration’s inability to curb illegal immigration, which soared to a historic monthly peak in December.
According to Abbott, Mr. Biden has completely neglected his duty to enforce the laws of the United States.
“Joe Biden, it is your turn now — your obligation, your duty, to follow the laws Congress passed and secure the border, just as Texas has,” Abbott said, speaking alongside the governors of Tennessee, Montana, Arkansas and Georgia among others.
Governor Abbott was accompanied by a group of esteemed governors including Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Idaho Governor Brad Little, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Governor Jill Pillen, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, and Utah Governor Spencer Cox. All these governors firmly support Texas’ right to safeguard its own interests.
“President Biden has abandoned his constitutional duty to protect Americans by refusing to secure our southern border,” Abbott said. “During his presidency, Joe Biden has smashed records for illegal immigration and allowed total chaos to be unleashed along our southern border.”
According to preliminary statistics from the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended over 225,000 migrants who crossed the southern border illegally during the first 27 days of December. It is important to note that this figure does not include migrants who entered through legal ports of entry, where the Biden administration has been processing approximately 50,000 migrants per month, largely facilitated by a smartphone app.
Abbott has consistently expressed his disapproval of Biden’s immigration policies, asserting that they have caused chaos in Texas.
“As opposed to detaining illegal immigrants, Biden has let them all loose, with no ability to accurately determine their whereabouts,” Abbott said during a press conference Sunday at the park. “We’ve seen the catastrophic consequences of Joe Biden’s open border policy.”
Abbott has considered multiple strategies to enhance border security in response to the increase in illegal immigration, one of which is using force against migrants.
We are using every tool that can be used from building a border wall, to building these border barriers, to passing this law that I signed that led to another lawsuit by the Biden administration where I signed a law making it illegal for somebody to enter Texas from another country,” Abbott said on a podcast with former National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch last week.
The only thing that we’re not doing is shooting people who come across the border because, of course, the Biden administration would charge us with murder,” Abbott later added.
According to Abbott, unauthorized border crossings have significantly decreased since Texas implemented over 100 miles of razor wire barriers.
“They have ensured that this entire park that we are in right now will not be an area that can be used to pass anymore,” he said.
During the news conference, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders also criticized the president.
“Because of his failures, Governor Abbott is having to step up, governors from across the country are having to step up and do the job of the federal government because they simply won’t,” Sanders said.
President Biden had a conversation with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico on Saturday afternoon. During their phone call, they talked about the challenges at their shared border and expressed their commitment to maintaining a productive partnership. This information was confirmed in a readout of their conversation.
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