U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported a record-high number of encounters with unlawful migrants at the southern border last week.
Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez appeared on Fox News’ America Reports and stated there were 12,000 encounters at the southern border, the highest number of encounters in a single day.
“There’s been a lot of conversations, a lot of planning, but there has not been any action from anyone as far as trying to do something about this situation at our border. Especially from our own federal government,” claimed Olivarez.
“In Texas, we’re having to take on that responsibility. We’ve been doing it for the last three years with state funding, with the troopers that we have, with National Guard soldiers, making our own barriers, everything that Gov. Abbott has implemented since March of 2021.”
Record-high numbers of unlawful migration have become more common in recent months, with CBP reporting a record-high month of 269,735 encounters in September, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Texas has taken multiple steps to reduce the impact of the high number of unlawful migrants entering the state, such as busing unlawful migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities across the country.
A press release from Gov. Greg Abbott’s office states that more than 75,000 unlawful migrants have been bused to sanctuary cities since April 2022.
The busing initiative coincided with Operation Lone Star, which Abbott started in March 2021 to combat a rise in unlawful migration and the smuggling of illicit drugs and weapons into the state.
However, many of the actions taken by Texas have prompted pushback from the federal government.
One such lawsuit came following the installation of concertina wire along the border, which federal agents allegedly cut to assist unlawful migrants in emergency situations.
The most recent update in the case came from a ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which enacted an administrative stay to prevent agents from cutting the wire until the court can hold a final trial, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
“I am pleased the court recognized the extent of the federal government’s blatant and disturbing efforts to subvert law and order at our State’s border with Mexico,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, per a press release about the ruling sent to The Dallas Express.
“This is an important step supporting Texas’s right to protect our citizens from Biden’s doctrine of open borders at any cost.”