Greg Abbott Deploys New Technology in Fight To Secure Texas Border 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said that National Guard soldiers are undergoing training to operate airboats as part of the state’s efforts to secure its border.

“Texas National Guard soldiers undergo training to effectively operate and maintain airboats supporting Operation Lone Star along the Texas-Mexico border,” the Republican governor wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.

“Texas continues to use every tool and strategy to secure the border.”

An airboat is a flat-bottomed watercraft propelled by an aircraft-type propeller and powered by either an aircraft or car engine.

Newsweek has contacted an Abbott spokesperson for further comment via email.

Abbott has clashed with President Joe Biden’s administration over immigration enforcement and the measures the governor has taken to curb illegal crossings from Mexico.

As part of Abbott’s multi-billion border mission known as Operation Lone Star, Texas has placed a floating barrier in the Rio Grande and placed razor wire along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In January, Texas seized control of Shelby Park, the riverfront area in the border city of Eagle Pass where miles of razor wire have been installed, and began denying access to U.S. Border Patrol agents, escalating the feud with the Biden administration over immigration enforcement.

The Justice Department argued the wire impedes the government’s ability to patrol the border and go to the aid of migrants in need of help.

The Supreme Court then cleared the way for Border Patrol agents to remove the wire. Abbott, however, remained defiant, declaring that Texas had a “constitutional right to self-defense” and said that more razor wire will be put up along the border.

The Supreme Court earlier this week temporarily blocked a new Texas law that would allow state law enforcement to detain anyone suspected of entering the state illegally.

As immigration becomes a top issue in the 2024 presidential election, Abbott and Republicans have repeatedly rebuked Biden’s border policies. The president, meanwhile, is slamming Republican lawmakers for rejecting a bipartisan border bill in February that sought to lower the number of illegal crossings at the southern border.

Responding to Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday, Abbott called it “nothing short of a dog and pony show to convince the American people that his administration is keeping America safe and secure.”

He noted that Wednesday had marked three years since he launched Operation Lone Star “to defend our state—and our nation—from the historic influx of illegal immigration, criminals, and deadly drugs like fentanyl pouring across our southern border.”

Texas families “are grieving as a direct result of the Biden administration’s inaction to secure our border and keep dangerous drugs and criminals off our streets,” he said in a statement.

“Until President Biden steps up and does his job as commander-in-chief to secure the border, Texas will hold the line and use every tool and strategy to keep our country safe.”