Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he will host members of the Texas House of Representatives in Eagle Pass on Thursday.
Abbott is expected to hold a press conference at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, which was recently seized from the federal government by the Texas National Guard.
The news release sent to The Dallas Express includes a list of 22 representatives who will be in attendance during the press conference:
- Rep. Greg Bonnen (R-Friendswood)
- Rep. Benjamin Bumgarner (R-Flower Mound)
- Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock)
- Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park)
- Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake)
- Rep. Mano DeAyala (R-Houston)
- Rep. Stan Gerdes (R-Smithville)
- Rep. Cody Harris (R-Palestine)
- Rep. Cole Hefner (R-Mt. Pleasant)
- Rep. Lacey Hull (R-Houston)
- Rep. Jacey Jetton (R-Richmond)
- Rep. Stan Kitzman (R-Pattison)
- Rep. Stephanie Klick (R-Fort Worth)
- Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano)
- Rep. Candy Noble (R-Lucas)
- Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano)
- Rep. John Smithee (R-Amarillo)
- Rep. David Spiller (R-Jacksboro)
- Rep. Lynn Stucky (R-Denton)
- Rep. Kronda Thimesch (R-Carrollton)
- Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R-Austin)
- Rep. Terry Wilson (R-Georgetown)
The Office of the Governor stated that Abbott will make a “border security announcement” during the press conference, though it is still unclear what specifically will be revealed.
The imminent announcement comes during a time of contention between the Lone Star state and federal government due to the crisis at the southern border.
A source with U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that there have been more than 1 million encounters with unlawful migrants at the border since the beginning of FY2024 in October, per Fox News.
This crisis has resulted in multiple lawsuits between Texas and the federal government, including those relating to a floating barrier in the Rio Grande and concertina wire along the border, both of which Texas has deployed to deter unlawful crossings.
One federal attempt to manage the ongoing crisis at the border came with the proposal of a new bill, though it was widely criticized, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) saying it “fails in every policy area needed to secure the border and would actually incentivize more illegal immigration.”
“The so-called ‘shutdown’ authority in the bill is anything but, riddled with loopholes that grant far too much discretionary authority to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — who has proven he will exploit every measure possible, in defiance of the law, to keep the border open,” Johnson said, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
On the other hand, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) had argued the bill provided a “serious opportunity to make real progress on fixing our broken immigration system and giving our border communities the resources they need.”
Nonetheless, on Wednesday, the bill was blocked by Republicans in the Senate, as reported by The Dallas Express.
