Reaction & Commentary
‘Remarkable situation’ 
Texas Migrant CrisisAre now unable to cross and the reason why we’ve been able to achieve that level of decrease in il illegal Crossings is only because of great teamwork in agencies across the state of Texas uh there have been more than uh 160 Mi altogether of barriers placed up
Not counting the border wall uh they include the the razor wire uh fencing anti-climb barriers these conx boxes and the buoys uh that are in the river those together add up to more than 160 m of barriers that have been placed up if you look at this uh massive Park
Area this is an area where you would regularly see 2,000 3,000 maybe 4,000 people crossing the border illegally since this park has been taken over by the National Guard the daily average is under 10 a day it shows that deterrents can achieve results at decreasing illegal immigration the only reason why it’s not
Happen happening is because the president of the United States is not enforcing the laws that are already on the books he does not need more laws he has the tools in his toolbox to do exactly what Texas is doing and that’s to deny illegal entry into the country which he is required to
Do we represent only about 30% of The Crossings the the lead Crossing areas are California Arizona and New Mexico that represent 70% of the Crossings now unlike before migrants are choosing to go to States other than Texas Texans know uh that the Biden Administration has completely failed and refused to
Secure our border and enforce Federal immigration policy our cries for help our demands for help have been ignored we’ve had enough in Texas and so uh with my help we I carried and we with the group here today uh passed and with Governor Abbott’s uh uh signature passed
SB 4 the strongest border security bill in the history of our state and the history of our nation for the first time ever uh we’re allowed to prosecute people coming into our state illegally from a foreign Nation if they cross someplace other than a lawful Port of
Entry it’s a landmark bill that allows Texans to protect Texas uh to allows us to return those that arrive here illegally and to prosecute and incarcerate those that refuse to comply and so U it’s completely constitutional because because it’s not it’s in compliance with the uh president set in
The Arizona case uh it’s not preempted by existing Federal immigration law it’s not in conflict with Federal immigration law that’s in in place and mostly uh Texas has the right the constitutional right and Authority uh to secure its border and so uh we’re proud of that bill the bid Administration continues uh
Uh to fight us uh they’re spending more effort to fight us than they are to secure the border and uh we look forward to that fight uh in the court I know his Department of Justice uh has uh has filed a suit to uh to contest that uh to
That I would say bring it we’re ready for that fight and so U uh I would look forward to continue with a uh opportunity to work uh with this group of conservative Representatives uh to continue to protect Texas and our country look forward to uh working with
Governor Abbott uh and his leadership we thank him for that and the job that he’s done so that Texas leads the way to show others how we protect our state and our country thank you they have filed more than 19,000 charges for smuggling those charges for smuggling now face a new
Consequence because of members of the legislature who stand behind me they passed a bill that I signed into law that increases the mandatory minimum time behind bars for Smugglers to 10 years if you smuggle somebody into or through and across the state of Texas illegally you’ll be spending a long time Behind
Bars by laws already passed by Congress part of the teamwork that we’re seeing is is tremendous leadership by the Texas National Guard uh to look forward about where we are going uh on strategies to both add and to accommodate more National Guard in this area we will also
Work with the National Guard to continue their strategies of adding more miles of razor wire and anti-climb barrier to also recognize another branch of government in Texas that is a partner in this effort heard several concerns from people who spoke today as well as yourself about what and who is coming
Across the border there’s also been concerns as well as questions do we know if anyone that beened in been of that so on in in that gang in particular I don’t have information about that and I know that DPS would be able to get you that answer specifically
However I do want to tell you this uh we know that uh DPS uh is arresting dangerous gang members all the time including they they arrested a MS13 gang member who uh was on the terrorist watch list and we know that there are terrorists and people on the terrorist
Watch list who seek to cross the border all the time under Joe Biden’s tenure there’s been an all-time record number of people on the terrorist watch list who were apprehended but here’s the key fact if you’re on the Terrace watch list they going to pay extra money to the
Cartels to not be apprehended what Joe Biden does not know what the FBI does not know is the number of people on the Terrace watch list who were able to evade detection enter the United States illegally and are are moving around the country with the potential to cause
Catastrophic harm recently he was on this program last week here’s Governor Abbott on that well for for one uh the importance of the people who join me today is the the fact is the wire that you see preventing illegal entry the conx boxes that you see uh the soldiers
That you see the Texas Department of Public Public Safety that you see none of that would be here but for the people who stand with me today as far as future announcements listen we are we being my office we’re working with the Texas National Guard uh on strategies to to to
Make sure uh that we’re going to to find ways that we will be able to both add and accommodate uh more soldiers being deployed in this area Customs and Border Protection data revealed nearly 9,000 illegal migrants from 73 different countries crossed the San Diego Border
In just one week yes 9,000 in just a week as cpb uh Customs and Border Protection sources is telling Fox News exclusively migrant encounters have already exceeded 1 million for this fiscal year and that fiscal year began in October um so I don’t understand how that can
Still also Texas is the first and only state in the history of the United States of America to build our own border wall we if you look at the amount of wall already constructed and the amount of wall that is going to be under construction Texas will have
Built more of the Trump border wall than even Trump built in the state of Texas in addition to what the Texas Department of Public Safety has been doing we’ve also had unprecedented success by the Texas National Guard uh they have more than a million encounters with illegal immigrants uh they have
Turned back more than 90 ,000 people who were trying to get into the country illegally in addition to what they’re doing uh through other agencies and in part through what uh the National Guard themselves are doing thank you governor governor thank you for your leadership on this issue I
Remember in uh mid 2021 the governor asked to visit with me in his office he had already initiated operation lonar and what he shared in that visit was was that the problem at the border was of a magnitude that we had never before experienced and efforts and initiatives
We had taken in the past were simply going to be insufficient we needed a new plan and it was going to require great resources and since that moment with Governor Abbott’s leadership and with speaker feling leadership lieutenant governor Patrick and all of the members of the House Representatives that you
See here we have been unwavering in our commitment to step into the Gap and to address a chaotic crisis where the federal government has refused to address and enforce our immigration laws when you look at the Appropriations for border security under the four years of the Trump Administration in Texas that
Was $1.6 billion for the four years of the Biden pres presidency Texas is appropriating 11.6 billion to do the same thing and what we’re seeing is that that deterrence does work and the park in which you’re standing right now is proof positive of where once there was chaos
And several thousand people a day coming across it has flowed to an almost non-existent number so it can be done when you break down uh the effort about $3.1 billion goes into barriers and uh border uh infrastructure about $200 million because Texas has banned Sanctuary cities in our state goes to
Transporting illegal immigrants to uary cities in other parts of the United States and the balance is spent on the Texas Military Department and the Department of Public Safety for human resources and operations and we thank them for the great work that they are doing and the thing that everybody
Should understand is that the governor the speaker lieutenant governor and all of the members who you see before you stand firmly committed that as long as there is an absence of the federal government doing its job to secure our international border we will step up and take their place first an update about
Some numbers from the Texas Department of Public Safety they have made over 39,000 criminal arrests they have uh uh apprehended more than 480,000 illegal migrants they’ve deterred more than 95,000 illegal entries and engaged in more than 4,300 bailouts the results are amazing if if you look at what has changed with
Regard to Illegal border crossings in the past half year or so you see that even though Texas represents about 2/3 of the border and that’s the legislative branch the tools and strategies that DPS the National Guard that I and others have to do anything to secure the bo order would
Not exist if it weren’t for the efforts of uh the members of the Texas House of Representatives I want to have some of them speak at this time in including uh the chair of House Appropriations chairman Greg Bonnet and more more more de more details will be provided in the future
At what point at what point Governor would you be willing I mean you’re a Christian person a lot of people in you know even Democrats are Christians something like that so without going too deep into religion will be a there will be a moment where
You’ll be willing to sit down and have a conversation at least with the opposite side as to you’ll meet me here I’ll meet you there is there a is there a possibility of that so let’s be clear about two things one is I’ve attempted that uh I have provided uh eight letters
To President Biden uh and his administration uh asking for certain actions I’ve received exactly zero response one of those letters I handed to him personally to his hand it was a single page it was not complicated and explained exactly what needed to be done in order to secure the border at that
Same meeting I handed the exact same letter to secretary me orcus who said that he would work with us and of course he has not so the B Administration has done nothing to work with us despite me reaching out on eight different times that said there is a key factor that we
Insist on and that is the beginning of our discussions starts with the enforcement of the rule of law there are laws on the books as we speak right now that don’t need to be added that don’t need to be changed that do two things it denies illegal entry into the United
States of America and it requires the president the executive branch to detain them if they do get in illegally those two laws are not being followed negotiations begin once the bid Administration starts in enforcing the laws last so the the the next steps uh is to uh I’m I’m working with the National
Guard on plans as we speak right now uh to expand the National Guard effort along the border region uh we’re going to work on strategies to uh ensure the capabilities of the of the National Guard to uh add uh more soldiers more resources more capabilities so they can
Be even more successful states to enforce existing Federal immigration law and that’s because Texas has put up the resistance that it has early on under the Biden Administration most of the migrants were coming through Texas that’s not true the same is true for this area that We Gather in right now
How the Border crisis shattered Biden’s immigration hopes President Biden’s immigration agenda rooted in principles of compassion and restoring faith in government significant challenges as chaos engulfed the US Mexico border putting his reelection prospects at risk the surge in the number of people crossing the border has reached record
Levels more than double the figures during the Trump Administration with a severely strained Asylum system in a surprising turn President Biden has called on Congress to Grant him the authority to shut down the border to address one of the biggest surges of uncontrolled immigration in American history several factors contributing to
The crisis are beyond bance control such as the collapse of Venezuela global migration surges and Republican opposition hindering efforts to address the issues Republicans have blocked resources impeded and openly defied Federal officials responsible for border security a New York Times examination of Biden’s three-year record based on interviews with over 35 current and
Former officials Reveals His struggles to overcome obstacles and the resulting growing humanitarian crisis immigration has become a top concern for many voters eroding confidence in Biden’s ability to address the issue President Biden with a background in the bip parts and search for an immigration compromise aimed for balance by creating legal Pathways and
Rebuilding the refugee system while adopting some of Trump’s tactics however the administration’s approach was overwhelmed by the sheer number of arrivals leading to a debate within the White House or on enforcement versus welcoming policies Biden shift from a 2020 candidate vo to end Trump’s anti-immigrant approach to a 2024
President willing to compromise on the bord is reflected in key moments that have shaped his administration’s response to this defining issue the influx of Migrant children in 2021 posed a significant test reviling challenges in implementing a more comp passionate approach promised during his campaign
