Gov. Greg Abbott discussed on Sunday the ongoing crisis at the border, claiming that President Joe Biden’s border policies pose an ‘existential threat’ to national security.
Abbott made an appearance on Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo, where he pointed to the rising number of Chinese nationals who have been encountered at the border, stating that “it is extraordinarily dangerous because, first of all, as you point out, we have people from China coming here.”
“And obviously, Biden is doing nothing about it. And that’s why Texas is having to step up and apprehend as many of these people as possible to make sure that they’re not posing a threat to our country,” said Abbott.
“But this is a very serious existential threat to our country caused by Joe Biden. And that’s exactly why Texas is taking extraordinary steps to try to crack down on it,” he said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that there were 52,700 encounters with Chinese nationals at the border during the 2023 fiscal year, with 12,812 of the encounters coming in Texas.
These numbers are a significant jump from previous years, with 27,756 encounters reported nationally in fiscal year 2022 and 23,471 encounters reported during the fiscal year 2021.
CBP also reported 7,166 encounters with Chinese nationals at the border in October, the highest number of such encounters in a single month, trailing behind only September when there were 7,271 reported encounters.
These comments from Abbott come following multiple court decisions that went in favor of the federal government, such as the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that Texas must remove the floating barrier in the Rio Grande River that was meant to deter unlawful migrants from entering the United States, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Similarly, District Judge Alia Moses ruled last week that federal agents would not be prevented from cutting concertina wire along the Texas border, writing in her opinion memorandum that Texas had not proven that cutting the wire was an official “agency action” that is reviewable.
While Moses ruled against Texas, she also wrote that evidence presented by the defendants “amply demonstrates the utter failure of the Defendants to deter, prevent, and halt unlawful entry into the United States.”
Despite ongoing criticism from Abbott, the federal government has taken steps to improve border security, including Biden discussing border security with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Prior to this meeting, the two countries came to an agreement in which Mexico stated that it would deport unlawful migrants back to their home country before they enter the U.S., though it is unclear how effective this agreement has been.
