WESLACO — Gov. Greg Abbott made another visit to the Rio Grande Valley Tuesday, in which he continued to attack President Joe Biden and his administration’s border policies.
Abbott was joined by state Rep. Ryan Guillen, who switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in Nov. 2021; state Sen. Brian Birdwel, R-Fort Worth; Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw; Adjutant General of the Texas Military Department Major General Thomas Suelzer; and newly appointed Texas Border Czar Mike Banks.
The visit marked Abbott’s first visit to the Valley since his State of the State address last week.
Members of the media were asked to exit the conference room of the Weslaco DPS Headquarters while those mentioned held a roundtable discussion on border security, which lasted just under an hour.
Following the discussion, Abbott invited the media back inside the conference room to give an update on the status of the Texas-Mexico border and challenges that he says border officials are currently facing.
“Three years ago, we had the lowest number of border crossings in decades,” Abbott said at the start of the news conference. “There was a reason why we had such a low number of border crossings three years ago. It’s because we had a president who had implemented four very simple policies that led to that dramatic decrease in illegal border crossings.”
The primary reason for the low number of crossings three years ago was then-President Donald Trump’s implementation of Title 42 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which gave authority to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to immediately expel anyone who crossed into the country because of the public health emergency.
The governor also referenced the end to “catch and release,” the implementation of the Remain in Mexico policy and the border wall, without citing data.
“As soon as President Biden took office, he eliminated all of those policies that President Trump put in place, and also issued basically an open invitation to anybody in the world that they can come here to the United States and cross our border illegally with no consequences,” Abbott said. “The result was extraordinarily predictable.”
Abbott said that the state saw the highest number of apprehensions in history. He criticized what he called Biden’s open border policy, adding that he had declared securing the border to be an emergency item during the legislative session as a result.
He said that with Title 42 expected to expire in May, he is anticipating up to 18,000 border crossings per day. Abbott cited federal estimates but did not disclose what federal agency those estimates came from.
“We’re sending a message today, and that is to say that if you’re coming towards the United States of America and you are thinking about crossing our border, and you’re thinking about making the border crossing in the state of Texas, you’re picking the wrong state to enter into or try to enter into,” he said. “Because we’re going to do everything we can to keep you out of our border, out of our country.”
Guillen said that based on data points shared during the closed-door discussion, he is convinced that Operation Lone Star is impacting illegal border crossings into Texas. He said that despite that, he believes that there is much that needs to be done to stop drugs from entering the US through Texas.
Guillen did not share any of that data.
“When you look back to 2020 and compare 2019 and 2020 to today, you have probably a 500 or 600% increase in illegal crossings and the fentanyl and illicit substances,” Guillen said. “Substances that are coming across have grown exponentially as well. That’s very concerning, so we as a state are committed to continue trying to address it.”
To see more, view Monitor photojournalist Joel Martinez’s full photo gallery here:
Photo Gallery: Texas Gov. Abbott attacks Biden, stumps on border security in another RGV visit
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