Texas Governor Greg Abbott installed new razor wire at the U.S-Mexico border on Monday after last week’s incident in El Paso, where a large group of migrants breached concertina wire fencing overpowering the National Guard.
On Thursday, Texas National Guard members were seen attempting to hold back that group of migrants as they breached the fencing in El Paso. Videos posted to X, formerly Twitter, showed the scene of events.
In a video posted by New York Post reporter Jennie Taer on X, she described the moment Texas National Guard became “overrun by migrants” as a fence is seen being pulled down.
On Friday, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) spokesperson in El Paso told Newsweek that the border surge began at approximately 11 a.m. local time on Thursday and included a large group of migrants. They breached Texas National Guard concertina wire barricades located between the Rio Grande and the border wall, near Midway Drive and Loop 375.
On Monday, Abbott, who has vowed that the fight “is not over” regarding the Supreme Court’s ruling of the temporary removal of razor wire along the southern border while litigation over the issue proceeds, announced on X the addition of more razor and National Guard soldiers in El Paso.
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Newsweek has reached out to Abbott’s office via email for comment.
“More Texas National Guard soldiers deployed and more razor wire installed at the border this weekend in El Paso. We continue to reinforce border barriers and repel any illegal immigrants. Texas is holding the line,” Abbott wrote on X.
Tensions between Texan authorities and the federal government over how to handle illegal migration across the southern border have exploded in the past few months. On January 22, the Supreme Court ruled federal agents could remove razor wire placed along the border on the orders of Abbott, sparking a furious response from the Republican who claimed his state was being subject to an “invasion” and invoked its “constitutional authority to defend and protect itself.”
Additionally, tensions over the measures escalated as the federal government raised environmental and humanitarian concerns about the deterrent. Physical barriers like razor wire, floating barriers in the Rio Grande, and walls as high as 30 feet have previously caused injuries, drownings and even death.
El Paso has been labeled as a popular migrant destination, with local doctors saying that migrant falls from the tall border walls have resulted in more consistent and “devastating” injuries to lower extremities.
David Stout, a county commissioner in El Paso’s Precinct 2 for almost 10 years, previously told Newsweek that Abbott and company want “chaos” at the border for political gain.
“They want to create chaos,” Stout said. “They don’t want to see the issues that we’re facing here on the border. They want there to be chaos so that it will play into their rhetoric that there is chaos on the border.”
Newsweek has reached out to Stout via email for comment.
However, Abbott has maintained his decision to deploy the deterrents, insisting that Texas had the authority to enforce border security measures on its border.
A spokesman for Abbott previously told Newsweek on Monday that the absence of razor wire and other deterrents “encourages migrants to make unsafe and illegal crossings” and makes the job of Texas border personnel more difficult.
“This case is ongoing, and Governor Abbott will continue fighting to defend Texas’ property and its constitutional authority to secure the border,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, crossings on the southwest land border in Texas totaled 68,260 in January, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data—a drop from the 149,806 migrants who entered in December, but still among the highest rates in the country, further encouraging state officials to try and take matters into their own hands.
The addition of razor wire also comes after the Supreme Court voted Tuesday to allow the law—Texas Senate Bill 4—to be enacted, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals placed the legislation back on hold. Texas Senate Bill 4, gave local and state law enforcement powers to arrest and deport migrants suspected of crossing into the Lone Star State illegally.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.