On Friday, the Biden administration blamed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and former President Donald Trump, and Republicans criticized the issue after The Post filmed hundreds of migrants tearing razor wire and rushing the border wall. continues to be “politicized” and said the only “solution” is for Congress to spend billions of dollars on frontier security.
“Razor wire, that’s [Abbott]. National Guard, that’s him. Border Patrol agents were still performing their duties. They got in the way just as the governor’s plan got in the way,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a regular briefing.
Jean-Pierre again added that he “hasn’t told” Biden about the pre-round video against Abbott.
“I really believe this is a question for the Republican governor of Texas. This is something he should be working on and really talking about,” she said. “The president, as I said earlier, has been working with Congress and the Senate to pass immigration legislation to ensure that we address the border challenges we face today. And he has not politicized this. There is a governor of Texas who continues to do so.
“I want to say that we appreciate the Border Patrol’s swift action to control the situation and apprehend the migrants. That is important,” Jean-Pierre added. “But Congressional Republicans need to address this.
Instead, what they’re doing is listening to former President Trump telling them not to get involved in pushing for this bipartisan deal because of his personal politics. ”
Jean-Pierre said the “solution” to the record number of immigrants apprehended during President Biden’s term is for Congress to “move forward” with a Biden-backed Senate bill that allocates $20 billion for border security. repeated.
House leaders have refused to bring the bill to a vote, arguing that it is redundant to powers Biden already has and taking issue with additional funding for Ukraine and Israel. ing. Mr. Biden himself has argued that passing the bill is necessary to take action against illegal immigration.
Abbott previously said Congress passed legislation giving Biden “all the tools necessary,” but the president simply chose to blame Congress.
“We need more resources and more personnel,” Jean-Pierre added, noting that everyone seen in the video “was arrested by Border Patrol.”
Texas is locked in a legal battle with the federal government over a state law that allows it to arrest immigrants deemed to have crossed the border illegally. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Texas on Tuesday, but the law was blocked within hours by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals late Tuesday night.
Mr. Abbott is also involved in back-and-forth with the White House over leaving border control in Eagle Pass in the hands of the Texas state government. Eagle Pass was a city particularly hard hit by waves of immigrants arriving across the Rio Grande.
The governor installed razor wire and sent the Texas National Guard to control the parks where most of the crossings take place.
Mr. Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to inquiries from the Post.
President Trump has vowed to reinstate tough border policies if elected non-consecutive in November.
