Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed that his state would begin constructing a border wall to curb President Joe Biden’s raging border crisis and surges in illegal contraband.
Abbott made the announcement during a Border Security Summit on Thursday in Del Rio, where he addressed state law enforcement, landowners, and elected officials and promised to take action.
“Contrary to the way some people have acted, the border crisis is no laughing matter,” Abbott said, taking a shot at border lead Vice President Kamala Harris, who continues to shrug off visiting the border and instead claims she is evaluating the “root causes” of migration. “This is something that also is not a tourism site for members of Congress to make an annual pilgrimage to and see the border, then go back and do absolutely nothing at the federal government level to solve the crisis.”
The border crisis is no laughing matter.
It’s also not a tourism site for members of Congress to make an annual pilgrimage to see & then do NOTHING about.
In the fed gov’t’s absence, Texas is taking additional action to secure the border & restore order.#BorderSummitTX pic.twitter.com/GWLYOjVVck
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 11, 2021
He pledged the state will continue arresting illegal aliens and would pour billions of dollars into upping border security. The Republican governor also said he will establish a Task Force on Border and Homeland Security to brainstorm ways to halt smuggling and the rising number of crossings and drug seizures.
“The state is working collaboratively with communities impacted by the crisis to arrest and detain individuals coming into Texas illegally,” Abbott said. “Our efforts will only be effective if we work together to secure the border, make criminal arrests, protect landowners, rid our communities of dangerous drugs, and provide Texans with the support they need and deserve.”
Abbott previously issued a disaster declaration for the Lone Star State at the beginning of June with the hopes that it would give his government more access to resources that can be used to deal with the overwhelming influx of illegal immigrants and other crimes coming into the state.
“Under the Biden administration, the federal government has shown unwillingness, ambivalence, or inability to enforce federal immigration laws, to deter and stop illegal border crossings into the United States, or to meaningfully partner with Texas in pursuing these goals,” the declaration said.
The Republican governor also swore the state would begin arresting and jailing border-crossers.
“I don’t think this has ever happened before where a disaster declaration was made for border counties because of the influx of people coming across the border,” Abbott said. “But I did because we are about to change the way that Texas addresses the challenges on the border, and we are going to start by helping these 34 counties respond by increasing arrests. We’ve got a new game in the state of Texas that’s going to begin next week, and that’s we’re going to start arresting.”
The pledge follows the launch of Operation Lone Star, which directs the Texas Department of Public Safety “to combat the smuggling of people and drugs into Texas.”
Source: The Federalist
