Greg Abbott Issues Ultimatum to Joe Biden Over Border Crisis

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued an ultimatum to Joe Biden over the U.S.-Mexico border crisis in a sharp rebuke of the president’s State of the Union address.

Abbott, a fierce opponent of the president, said that Texas would continue to use “every tool and strategy” available to keep the U.S. safe “until President Biden steps up and does his job as Commander-in-Chief.”

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Abbott said: “President Biden tried to convince the American people tonight that our country is safe and secure. That is a lie. He has invited historic illegal immigration, criminals and fentanyl to pour across the border. Texas will continue to hold the line to keep America safe.

“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.”

Abbott also noted that 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 referenced Stefanie Turner, who formed the Texas Against Fentanyl organization after her son Tucker was killed when he consumed a counterfeit prescription pill laced with the powerful opioid drug. She attended the State of the Union (SOTU) address on Thursday night after being invited by House Speaker Mike Johnson.

In his SOTU speech, Biden forcefully called on Republican lawmakers in Congress to back a bipartisan immigration bill that stalled last month.

“In November, my team began serious negotiations with a bipartisan group of senators. The result was a bipartisan bill with the toughest set of border security reforms we’ve ever seen,” Biden said.

“That bipartisan deal would hire 1,500 more security agents and officers, 100 more immigration judges to help tackle the backload of two million cases, 4,300 more asylum officers and new policies so they can resolve cases in six months instead of six years now. What are you against?

“One hundred more high-tech drug detection machines to significantly increase the ability to screen and stop vehicles smuggling fentanyl into America that’s killing thousands of children. This bill would save lives and bring order to the border. It would also give me and any new president new emergency authority to temporarily shut down the border when the number of migrants at the border is overwhelming.”

But he said that “politics had derailed the bill” and blamed former President Donald Trump for calling members of Congress to demand they block it. “He viewed it would be a political win for me and a political loser for him,” Biden said. “It’s not about him. It’s not about me.”

In Texas, Abbott has been a fierce proponent of border security, regularly accusing the Biden administration of failing to do enough to secure the border.

His update this month on the Operation Lone Star, which he launched in 2021 to secure the Texas-Mexico border, revealed that Texas authorities had detained 501,300 illegal immigrants and seized 467 million “lethal doses” of fentanyl. Texas has also transported tens of thousands of migrants to six Democratic-led “sanctuary cities.”

Tensions between Texas authorities and the Biden administration flared after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in January that federal agents could remove razor wire placed across the Texas-Mexico border on Abbott’s orders by the state’s National Guard.

In response, Abbott invoked what he said was Texas’ “constitutional authority to defend and protect itself.” The move was supported by republican governors across the country, along with Trump.

The Supreme Court also temporarily blocked a new law in Texas that would allow state law enforcement to detain anyone suspected of entering the state illegally. Abbott had signed the legislation into law in December, but the Supreme Court ordered a stay until March 13.

Newsweek has contacted Abbott’s office for comment outside of normal working hours.