Texas Governor Greg Abbott said his state is taking border security into its own hands after appeals to the Biden administration went unanswered.
In a video shared on Twitter late Monday night, the Republican governor showed border officials in Brownsville, Texas, laying barbed wire across a breach in the border that was previously exposed to migrants seeking to enter the United States from Mexico. .
“It’s one thing Texas is doing to secure the border,” Abbott wrote. “This is the area near Brownsville where migrants were crossing in large numbers a few days ago.”
In the video, the person carrying the camera and a flashlight quickly walks along the border and pans to show hundreds of feet of spiral wiring. In some areas, wiring is stacked to create a partition several feet high.
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott shared a video of newly installed barbed wire in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Abbott added: “We have it wired now. Other areas will surface for crossing. We will also close them by cable.
“More to come,” promised the governor of Texas.
The barbed wire appears to be only a minor deterrent to those wishing to enter the United States illegally. Photos and videos at different areas of the border show migrants crossing barbed wire using blankets and clothing to cover the sharp edges.
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The barbed wire barricade comes as the Biden administration has failed to provide congressional funds approved under the Trump administration to bolster border security.
Several border states have complained that the federal government has also failed to help them fill critical gaps in areas along the border.
National Guard officers place a wall of barbed wire on the banks of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, on the border with Ciudad Juarez, in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, March 8, 2023. (HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Border crossings have intensified in recent weeks and migrants have gathered in their thousands near different sections of the wall, including in El Paso, as they await the expiry of Title 42 on Thursday.
Title 42 is a public health order signed under former President Donald Trump in 2020 and its expiration is expected to give way to a wave of migrants.
FOX NEWS VIDEO CAPTURES HUNDREDS OF MIGRANTS CROSSING TEXAS AS THE END OF TITLE 42 NEARS
The order gave border authorities the power to refuse or relocate migrants due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The White House recently said it would veto a Republican House majority border enforcement bill that would limit asylum claims and build a physical wall at the border.
“Biden is against border security laws,” Abbott also tweeted on Monday.
President Biden speaks with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials during his visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, January 8, 2023. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
He added, “Over the past 2 years, #OperationLoneStar has helped close the dangerous gaps created by Biden’s open border policies. Biden has stopped or repealed any effective border security strategy. »
“As it ends Title 42 on Thursday, Texas will continue our historic response to this crisis,” the Texas Republican said.
Border agents in Brownsville, Texas, installed barbed wire to close a gap at the US-Mexico border. (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
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In addition to the number of migrants crossing the border, Abbott and Republicans in border states have railed against the prevalence of deadly fentanyl, which enters the United States primarily from Mexico.
More than 385 million lethal doses have been seized by border authorities in the past two years alone as part of Texas’ Operation Lone Star.