Texas Gov. Abbott vows to expand razor wire fence despite court order

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott defiantly vowed Sunday to expand the controversial razor wire fencing his state erected along the border, days after the US Supreme Court ruled the Biden administration could rip it down.

Joined by 13 other Republican governors who offered resources and troops for the effort, Abbott claimed the fencing and aquatic barriers along the US-Mexico border has helped eliminate nearly all illegal crossings at Shelby Park in beleaguered Eagle Pass, Texas, with the Lone Star State looking to repeat the results elsewhere.

“The Texas National Guard is undertaking operations to expand this effort. We’re not going to contain ourselves just to this park,” Abbott said. “We are expanding to further areas to make sure that we expand our level of deterrence and denial of illegal entry into the United States.”  

Abbott touted that his state has installed more than 100 miles of razor wire fencing along the border, which he said should be protected despite a recent US Supreme Court ruling permitting the federal government to remove the barrier.

The Texas governor claimed the fencing was the key to solving the migrant crisis in Eagle Pass, which was once inundated with illegal migrants.

Shelby Park specifically was plagued with illegal immigration until Abbott suddenly took control of the area, a move criticized by Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas

“This area was at one time, not too long ago, an area where there would be … sometimes 5,000 people crossing illegally,” Abbott told reporters Sunday of Shelby Parks’ daily encounters. “Now that we’ve taken control of this area, for the past three days, there’s an average of only three people crossing illegally in this area.

“It shows the state of Texas can do what the federal government is charged to do and has the tools and equipment to do,” the frustrated Abbott added. “Joe Biden, it’s your turn now.”

Joining his Texas counterpart, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee echoed Abbott’s claim that the Lone Star State has a constitutional right to protect itself from the migrant crisis.

Lee, who serves as the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, said Biden’s border policies have failed Texas and the rest of the nation, which has seen an influx of illegal migration since the president was elected.

“Each one of us understands the devastating effects the border policy has had on every one of our states individually, and we are here together to collaboratively work to support Texas,” Lee said. “This experiment of an open border policy has catastrophically failed America.”

The group of Republican governors vowed to stand by Texas and provide resources and troops to guard the border and install barriers, with Abbott reiterating that it was their only course of action because of Biden’s alleged inaction.  

During the 2023 fiscal year, a record-breaking 2,475,669 migrant encounters were recorded at the southern US border, according to US Customs and Border Protection.

Abbott also warned that if Texas, which represents the bulk of the land along the border, cracks down on illegal immigration, migrants and cartels will begin to be more active in states with less strict measures in place, such as New Mexico, Arizona and California.

The Texas governor’s tactics are not without detractors, who have accused his policies of endangering the lives of migrants attempting to cross into the US.

Last month, a woman and two children drowned in the Rio Grande after border agents were allegedly denied access to the fenced off area by Texas guards. Texas officials denied the claim.