Texas officials have reported a significant drop in illegal border crossings since Gov. Gregg Abbott implemented his state-level border security mission.
As part of the initiative, the Republican governor has deployed floating border barriers, installed wire fencing, and used the Texas National Guard to stem the flow of illegal immigrants.
Since the program was launched, the multi-agency effort has led to nearly 514,000 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 44,000 criminal arrests, with more than 38,600 felony charges, the statement said.
His office also emphasizes that law enforcement officials have seized over 489 million lethal doses of the synthetic opioid fentanyl during this period, noting the quantity seized is enough to “kill every man, woman, and child in the United States and Mexico combined.”
Mr. Abbott argued that were it not for the state’s border security program, the apprehended or arrested individuals—along with “every ounce of drugs” seized—could have scattered into communities across the Lone Star State and other U.S. states.
The Republican governor, meanwhile, criticized the Biden administration for its poor handling of the border situation, saying the new border executive order President Joe Biden signed earlier this month “will do little to stem the flow of illegal immigration into the country.”
“As long as the Biden Administration refuses to provide any type of enforcement, any type of blockage, of people crossing illegally, all that this new Biden policy is going to do is to actually attract and invite even more people to cross the border illegally,” he said in the statement, citing his appearance on Fox News.
Mr. Abbott referred to President Biden’s new executive order suspending asylum requests at certain times to deter illegal border crossings.
The proclamation will kick in once the average number of encounters with illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico exceeds 2,500 a day over seven days.
President Biden’s executive action comes as his administration has been dealing with a historic increase in illegal immigrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the total number of border encounters in the first five months of fiscal year 2024 was more than 1.15 million, up by almost 12 percent from the 1.03 million in the same period in fiscal 2023.
Article Courtesy of Epoch Times & NTD News
By Lorenz Duchamps | Lorenz Duchamps is a news writer for NTD, The Epoch Times’ sister media, focusing primarily on the United States, world, and entertainment news.
