Texas Border Business
AUSTIN, Texas – Governor Greg Abbott today sent a letter to New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, inviting the mayors to visit Texas’ southern border to see the humanitarian crisis firsthand. Local communities are being overrun by record-high numbers of illegal immigrants as President Biden’s reckless open border policies have invited mass migration and transnational criminal activity into Texas communities.
“As law enforcement agents along the Texas-Mexico border respond to thousands of illegal crossings each and every day, putting their lives on the line for Texans and for all Americans, the crisis demands the attention of not only the Biden Administration, which is responsible for securing the border, but of leaders across the country,” reads the letter. “As Governor, I invite you to visit our border region to see firsthand the dire situation that only grows more urgent with each passing day, and to meet with the local officials, who like yourselves, realize this matter deserves immediate federal action.”
Texas has bused thousands of migrants to Washington, D.C. who would have otherwise been released into small border communities with more limited resources than the nation’s capital. Last month, Governor Abbott responded to New York City Mayor Adams’ false accusations attacking the mission by calling on the mayor to direct his complaints to President Biden for refusing to secure the southern border.
Governor Abbott has taken significant action to secure the border in the wake of the federal government’s inaction. Those actions include:
- Securing $4 billion in funding for Texas’ border security efforts
- Launching Operation Lone Star and deploying thousands of National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers
- Taking aggressive action to secure the border as President Biden ends Title 42 expulsions, including busing thousands of migrants to Washington, D.C.
- Arresting and jailing criminals trespassing or committing other state crimes along the southern border
- Allocating resources that include acquiring 1,700 unused steel panels to build the border wall in Texas
- Signing a law to make it easier to prosecute smugglers bringing people into Texas
- Signing 15 laws cracking down on human trafficking in Texas
- Signing a law enhancing penalties for the manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl
- Issuing a disaster declaration for the border crisis
- Issuing an executive order preventing non-governmental entities from transporting illegal immigrants
- Signing memoranda of understanding between the State of Texas and the States of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to enhance border security measures that will prevent illegal immigration from Mexico to Texas
- Activating the Joint Border Security Operations Center (JBSOC) and directing the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Military Department, and Texas Division of Emergency Management to coordinate Texas’ response to secure the border
- Issuing an executive order authorizing the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety to return illegal immigrants to the border at ports of entry
- Creating DPS strike teams and establishing new vehicle inspection checkpoints targeting semi-trucks and other commercial motor vehicles
Read more on additional actions taken by the Governor to secure the border.
