Abbott sends Biden message on 'sovereign authority' as Texas National Guard reinforces border razor fencing
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday highlighted how Texas is reinforcing barriers in a key border crossing area and pledged to exercise its "sovereign authority" — amid an ongoing months-long legal fight with the Biden administration over enforcement.
Abbott posted an image of Texas National Guard soldiers reinforcing border barriers, including razor wire, in El Paso, Texas — an area that has seen a number of migrant surges in recent weeks.
"Texas National Guard soldiers continue to reinforce border barriers in El Paso to deter and repel illegal crossings," he said.
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"Texas will exercise our sovereign authority to protect our southern border — and our nation — because President Biden refuses to enforce federal immigration laws."
Texas, as part of Operation Lone Star, has set up the razor wire and other barriers along the border in an effort to curb the historic amounts of illegal migration that have hit it since 2021.
The wire has become a point of contention between Texas and the Biden administration. Texas sued the administration after federal officials cut the wire in order to be able to apprehend migrants who were technically already in the U.S.
CAUGHT ON CAMERA: CROWDS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CUT RAZOR WIRE, RUSH ACROSS BORDER INTO TEXAS
Earlier this year, Texas seized Shelby Park, a key staging ground in Eagle Pass and continued reinforcing the razor wire and other barriers. The administration has since sued Texas over an anti-illegal immigration bill that would allow local police to arrest illegal immigrants and would allow judges to order them deported. The Biden administration says that Texas’ actions interfere with federal enforcement, while Texas says it needs to act in the face of inaction over the border crisis from the federal government.
"Whether it is leaving migrants on the side of the road in the dead of winter, installing razor wire to make Border Patrol’s job more dangerous, promoting extreme and unconstitutional laws like S.B. 4, or his latest actions in Eagle Pass, Governor Abbott has repeatedly proven that he is not interested in solutions and only seeks to politicize the border," the White House said in a statement during the Shelby Park incident.
As that standoff continues, there have been a number of rushing incidents in El Paso, including one last month in which a large group broke through the razor wire. Texas authorities have since charged hundreds with rioting charges and some others with assault and criminal trespass.
Fox obtained video last week of crowds of migrants cutting the wire in El Paso and surging through a gap in the wire. At one point, the Texas forces intervene and push the migrants back.
"Back the f--- up, get the f--- off of here, back the f--- up," the soldier yells at them. "Get the hell out of here."
Meanwhile, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas took aim at Texas’ use of razor wire last week, doubling down on the claim it hurts Border Patrol's job.
"We do not consider concertina wire to be effective. It impairs Customs and Border Protection's ability to do its job, and we're also seeing migrants rather easily cutting concertina wire," Mayorkas told a group of reporters Friday, according to CBS News.