Gov Greg Abbott is not in the mood to wait for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to secure the border because quite simply they won’t. He has announced that Texas will build barriers in two sections where illegal aliens can cross freely.
One section is the Del Rio section where the number of illegals crossing there has increased 118% increase under Joe Biden compared to the same month in Trump’s last year, 27,890 compared to 2,289 in May of 2021 and 2020.
Abbott said:
The influx across the border is out of control, and the Biden Administration has shown that is not going to step up and do its job. And amidst reports of even more people coming in across the border, we know we have to step up and do more.”
“The reason why we are here (Del Rio) is because of the massive increase. Border crossings used to be highly “concentrated in the Rio Grande Valley. Now, you know we’re upstream from the Rio Grande Valley in the Del Rio Sector and the Del Rio sector is suffering from some of the largest increases.”
Abbott said that construction would begin immediately. He has identified 1,000 jail cells that can be used to house the illegals they arrest.
Abbott has declared an emergency and they have increased the prison sentences of those who damage the barrier in any way.
They can be incarcerated for 180 days for vandalizing the barrier. He has not laid out what kind of barrier they are going to put up.
Abbott continued:
“With your help, we can apprehend more of these perpetrators of state and federal crimes before they can cause problems in your state. Texas and Arizona have stepped up to secure the border in the federal government’s absence, and now, the Emergency Management Assistance Compact gives your State a chance to stand strong with us.”
“I’ll tell you why. The immigration issue and the border issue is not just the number one issue of Texas, it’s the number one issue in America. And so all of these other governors, they hear the same concerns that we hear about in Texas.”
“In the end, only the federal government and Congress can fix this, but as it stands right now, the state of Texas is going to step up and we’re going to start making arrests — sending a message to anybody thinking about coming here, you’re not going to get a free pass to the U.S. They’re getting a straight pass to a jail cell.”