Texas authorities erected more razor wire this week despite the Supreme Court ruling that the federal government can take it down, and more than two dozen Republican governors have rallied behind Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in his quest to stop the Biden administration from making the ongoing border crisis even worse.
On Friday, Texas Gover Greg Abbott’s Office released a statement titled, “Operation Lone Star Holds The Line To Defend Southern Border.”
“Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and the Texas National Guard continue to work together to secure the border; stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and people into Texas; and prevent, detect, and interdict transnational criminal activity between ports of entry.
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“Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to over 496,700 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 38,700 criminal arrests, with more than 35,100 felony charges. In the fight against the fentanyl crisis, Texas law enforcement has seized over 454 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.
“Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps created by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border. Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Joe Biden’s open border policies,” said Abbott’s office.
In a video posted Friday, Abbott told Tucker Carlson that he was “prepared” if President Joe Biden decided to seize the state’s national guard.
Abbott issued a scathing rebuke Wednesday after the Supreme Court ruled the Biden administration could cut concertina wire placed by the state on the border, saying Texas has the full constitutional authority to “defend and protect” itself from illegal immigrants pouring across the southern border.
The Republican said that the state was “prepared” in the event President Joe Biden heeded calls from Democrats to seize control of the Texas National Guard.
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“I would be shocked, because that would be a bone-headed move on his part, a total disaster” Abbott told Carlson. “But for one, as you might imagine, we are prepared in the event that unlikely event does occur, to make sure that we will continue exactly what we have been doing over the past month, and that is building these barriers, whether it be the concertina wire or other anti-climb border barriers.”
“We will continue to do exactly what we’re doing, to expand our denial of illegal entry into the state of Texas,” Abbott added.
The Texas Department of Public Safety took control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, a hotspot of illegal immigration, on Jan. 11 in the midst of the ongoing legal battles between the state and the Biden administration. Abbott reminded the former Fox News host that he signed SB4, which makes illegal entry into Texas a misdemeanor.
Abbott also said that he sent Biden eight letters seeking help with the border.
“I have spoken to the president about the border, I met him on the tarmac at El Paso and talked to him directly about what is going on,” Abbott told Carlson. “I handed him a letter that had in it immediate solutions he could take that would immediately secure the border without the need of any new law to be passed.”
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“Despite the fact I handed him altogether eight different letters, he has refused to respond,” Abbott continued. “My point in telling you that, we have laid down the precursor of what is called Article IV, Section 4 of the United States Constitution to show that we have been invaded and we have demanded support from the President to safeguard our state, and they have refused to do so eight times, and that authorizes me to declare an invasion under Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution to make sure that Texas is going to be able to use every tool in our arsenal to defend our state.”
Abbott also said ten other states that declared support for the state sent National Guard, adding that he hoped more of them would assist as Texas continued to erect barriers.
“This will all come to an end on January the 20th of next year, because I believe a new president will be sworn in, a president who will actually enforce the immigration laws of the entire country,” Abbott told Carlson.
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