Texas Governor Greg Abbott has suggested that migrants looking to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border should head to one of the three border states that he does not control.
Abbott, a Republican who frequently criticizes the immigration policies of President Joe Biden, said during a press conference in Eagle Pass on Friday that the border in New Mexico, Arizona and California had “gaping openings.”
The governor made the remarks while announcing that Texas is building the “forward base” of the Texas National Guard near the border. He suggested that the military buildup along the border would push migrants to cross elsewhere.
SERGIO FLORES/AFP
“We all know come springtime there’s going to be additional caravans that are making their way through the southern and central part of Mexico [and] deciding where they are going to be going,” Abbott said.
“We want to make sure that when they come to the crossroads [and decide whether] they are going to go to Texas or going to go elsewhere, they will know the wrong place to go is the state of Texas,” he continued.
Abbott went on to say that drug cartels were taking “the path of least resistance” by choosing to cross in the other border states, explaining that “decisions are being made to cross in states other than Texas because Texas has fortified a barrier that discourages crossing in this area.”
It was unclear whether there were any measures that could prevent migrants who intend to settle in Texas from going to the Lone Star State after crossing the border in a different state.
Newsweek reached out for comment to Abbott’s office via email on Friday.
Abbott has been at the forefront of a Republican effort to counter what they call “Biden’s border crisis” with their border security measures. He is also the only GOP governor of a state with a U.S.-Mexico border.
Republican governors from states far away from the border have attempted to make the issue their own by offering help to Abbott, with several having already sent their own National Guard troops to the border in Texas.
A bipartisan border security bill that was backed by Biden was recently killed by Republicans in Congress following demands from former President Donald Trump, the incumbent president’s likely GOP opponent in the November election.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection released statistics this week that show encounters with migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border were halved in January, after having hit an all-time high in December.
CBS News reported earlier this month that border crossing had “largely shifted away from Texas,” with internal government documents purportedly showing that approximately 60 percent of all illegal border crossings were taking place in Arizona or California.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.