Texas Gov. Abbott touts new border wall construction, amid Biden challenges over buoy barrier

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is touting new border wall construction at the state’s border with Mexico – as his administration battles the Biden administration over barrier construction and a reported policy to keep migrants in the state.

“Texas is adding more border wall today,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This is in the Del Rio sector.”

The short video shows a crane placing border wall bollards along the Texas border.

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Abbott announced in 2021 funding for a state project to continue construction of a wall after the Biden administration abruptly ended the Trump-era construction project that saw over 450 miles built.

The Biden administration has said the wall was ineffective and expensive, but conservatives have charged that borders are a key facet of a strong border security strategy to stop illegal immigration and have renewed calls for construction to be restarted amid the ongoing border crisis.

The border wall project by Texas is part of Operation Lone Star, which has seen resources and law enforcement surged to the border in order to respond to the crisis.

Earlier this year, Abbott announced a separate barrier in the Rio Grande River itself, consisting of floating buoys near Eagle Pass, Texas. But that effort has faced a lawsuit from the Department of Justice, which says it is a safety risk and against federal law.

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“The State of Texas’s actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties,” the DOJ said in a letter to Abbott before the suit was filed.

A federal judge ordered the state to move the buoys, but that was stayed by the U.S. Court of Appeals as the case makes it way through the courts.

Meanwhile, Abbott has rejected a reported plan by the Biden administration to force migrants to remain in Texas while their asylum cases are considered. Abbott warned that his administration would sue over the policy, which reportedly would see migrant families remain in Texas and monitored on an ankle bracelet. He also said his practice of sending buses of migrants to “sanctuary” jurisdictions would increase.

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“Biden considers forcing migrant families to remain in Texas. This scam was tried years ago & was shot down by a judge,” Abbott said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We will send Biden the same swift justice.”

 

“And, we will add even more buses of migrants to Washington D.C.,” he said.