Texas Gov. Greg Abbott blames VP Harris for 'open border' policy
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott joined KXAN for a 1-on-1 interview Monday where he discussed Vice President Kamala Harris, Houston power company CenterPoint's response to Hurricane Beryl and what's in store for the education savings account initiative during the 2025 Texas legislative session.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott joined KXAN for a 1-on-1 interview Monday where he discussed Vice President Kamala Harris, Houston power company CenterPoint's response to Hurricane Beryl and what's in store for the education savings account initiative during the 2025 Texas legislative session.
Biden announced he was dropping out of the presidential race on Sunday afternoon. While DNC delegates are meeting to discuss their next move ahead of August's Democratic National Convention, President Biden quickly endorsed Harris for the nomination.
KXAN asked Abbott about his thoughts on Harris as the possible Democratic nominee.
Abbott on Kamala Harris
"As it concerns for what's going on at the border, our fellow Texans have suffered because of it and are angry about it. As well our fellow Americans, it's either Biden-inflation or the Biden open border that are the No. 1 and No. 2 policies and issues in this presidential race. Kamala Harris doesn't change that at all. In fact, she is even more responsible for the open border policy," Abbott said.
Abbott said Texas-based initiatives dropped crossings at the Texas border by 74%. He claimed that New Mexico, Arizona and California have seen increases in crossings. Statistics from Customs and Border Protection show higher numbers this year in California, but lower numbers in New Mexico and Arizona.
Abbott on possible mass deportations at U.S.-Mexico border
Former President Trump and the Republican Party as a whole have called for mass deportation efforts if Trump secures the presidency again. Here's Abbott's response to KXAN's question on the possibility of mass deportations.
"I believe what the president (Trump) will do first is to go after the criminal illegal immigrants who have committed crimes in countries they've fled from or committed crime in the United States of America and make sure they get either arrested and put in jail or get deported back to the country they came from," Abbott said.
Texas' response to Hurricane Beryl
Abbott previously said that he “came down hard” on CenterPoint for Hurricane Beryl because they were not prepared for the storm. He echoed those beliefs Monday, saying CenterPoint was "behind the ball" with its response plan.
At one point, nearly 3 million people were without power in the aftermath of the July 8 storm.
"From what I've heard, CenterPoint has been behind the ball as it concerns (to) their response plan. Know this, there were many other power companies who had to deal with this hurricane. It was really on CenterPoint that was behind the ball," Abbott said.
The governor said CenterPoint "was trying to save money" and didn't put people in position to quickly respond to the disaster.
Abbott on education savings accounts
During the 2023 Texas legislative session, Abbott faced opposition to his education savings account initiative from Democrats and a handful of Republicans in the House.
The plan would allocate state money to help pay for private or homeschooling expenses. Those opposed to the plan expressed concern that it would reduce public school funding.
Abbott said the results of Texas primary elections have paved the way for the plan to pass in the next legislative session.
"It looks like we have the votes to ensure that we will pass education savings accounts. Importantly, we will be working to improve our public schools, our charter schools, as well as the school choice program, to make sure that every child is going to have access to the highest quality education and the content of that education is going to be better content," Abbott said.