Texas is on track to build more of President Donald Trump’s infamous border wall than the former president’s own administration built in the state, Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday.
“Texas is the first and only state in the history of the United States to build its own border wall,” Abbott said at a news conference in Shelby Park.
“If you look at the amount of wall that’s already been built and the amount of wall that’s going to be built, Texas is going to build more Trump border wall than President Trump built in Texas,” the governor said. boasted.
The Lone Star State has also installed about 160 miles of barriers on the river, including razor wire fencing, anti-climb fences, Conex boxes and buoys, but not walls, Abbott said.
Texas has also ramped up enforcement along its southern border amid the ongoing immigration crisis, which Mr. Abbott declared “the biggest border crisis since America had its borders.”
According to the governor, the Texas Department of Public Safety has made more than 39,000 criminal arrests, apprehended more than 480,000 illegal immigrants, stopped more than 95,000 people from entering the country illegally, and provided more than 4,300 relief efforts. He was charged with more than 19,000 smuggling charges.
The Texas National Guard also turned away more than 90,000 people who tried to cross the border illegally, Abbott said.
A combination of these measures has proven successful in reducing the number of people entering the United States through the state.
“The results were amazing,” Abbott told reporters.
Although Texas covers about two-thirds of the U.S.-Mexico border, less than one-third of border crossings occur within Texas, a change that has only occurred in the past six months, he said. said.
“Unlike before, immigrants are now choosing to go to states other than Texas because Texas continues to resist,” Abbott said. “Early in the Biden administration, most of the immigrants were coming through Texas. [no longer] truth. “
One of the most telling signs that Texas is succeeding in deterring illegal immigration is the data regarding Shelby Park, once a hotbed for illegal border crossings.
The number of illegal crossings has decreased significantly since Texas took control of Eagle Pass Park from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“If you look at this huge park area, it’s an area where you regularly see 2,000, 3,000, maybe 4,000 people illegally crossing the border,” Abbott said inside Shelby Park. “This park has been occupied, so [Texas] The average number of National Guard troops per day is less than 10.
“This shows that deterrence can be successful in reducing illegal immigration,” he added. “The only reason it won’t happen is because the president of the United States isn’t enforcing the laws that are already in place.”
