As historic numbers of unlawful migrants continue to cross the Lone Star State’s southern border, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has created a new official state post: Border Czar.
“For nearly two years, the State of Texas has taken unprecedented, historic action under Operation Lone Star in response to the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border,” Abbott explained in a press release.
“To continue doing what no other state in the history of our country has done to secure the border, I hired Mike Banks as the State of Texas’ first-ever Border Czar.”
Citing Banks’ extensive record of law enforcement service, Abbott claimed, “Mike is the perfect choice to oversee Texas’ fight against the surge of illegal immigration, lethal drugs, and deadly weapons flowing into our state and nation.”
Banks is from Mission, Texas, and formerly served as the Weslaco Station Patrol Agent in Charge for the United States Border Patrol (USBP). His service in the USBP took him to Washington, D.C., Arizona, California, and throughout the Rio Grande Valley, according to the press release.
Responding to the appointment, Banks stated, “I am humbled to be selected by Governor Abbott for this opportunity. Protecting our nation’s border is something I have dedicated the last 23 years of my life to, and I am very passionate about it.”
“I look forward to strengthening our relationships with law enforcement partners and the community, leveraging all that we can to further protect our great state of Texas and the United States,” he concluded.
The position, technically called the Special Advisor on Border Matters to the Governor, will report to Gov. Abbott on matters of border security. Border Czar Banks will also coordinate operations between the Texas Military Department, the Department of Public Safety, local law enforcement, and other agencies.
Chris Russo, president of Texans for Strong Borders, expressed reservations about the appointment to The Dallas Express.
“Although the appointment of a Border Czar can help response times and implementation of any border security policies put in place by the state, ultimately the success or failure of these efforts comes down to expelling those who enter our country illegally,” said Russo.
Russo continued:
“My concern is that, like with Operation Lone Star, this will only serve as a funnel to turn illegal aliens over to federal officials who refuse to enforce our current immigration law and engage in regular deportations.”
Abbott’s creation of a border czar follows last year’s historic levels of unlawful migration across the southern border. Customs and Border Patrol documented over 2.7 million border crossings for the 2022 fiscal year — the most in history.
The governor previously launched Operation Lone Star, which deployed increased resources and taxpayer funding to heighten enforcement measures along the border and transport migrants to self-declared “sanctuary cities” like New York City, Chicago, and Washington D.C.
Additionally, with the potential end of Title 42 on the horizon, Texas lawmakers are attempting to develop plans to secure the border further.
The legislators who have filed bills pertaining to border security include Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston), Sen. Bob Hall (R-Rockwall), Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury), Rep. Eddie Morales (D-Eagle Pass), Rep. David Spiller (R-Jacksboro), and Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Greenville).
Czar is certainly one appropriate name for Abbott. Not the first one that comes to mind and it’s certainly to kind of a name for him
Quit messing around and build the wall.
Maybe they should just blast a ravine so deep it makes it impassable. Explosives probably cheaper than a wall. Protecting our borders is the responsibility of the federal government but they just sit there with that deer-in-the-headlights look and work on pronouns and push for sexual deviancy.
We were told Mexico would pay for it. Maybe you can convince them to build the wall too.
Hope he uses our “original” immigration laws that allow for quick deportation of illegal invaders. Asylum laws needs to also be followed – asylum needs to start in their own country or neighboring country but NOT just showing up at our border and asking for asylum plus the actual asylum requirements must be met and not circumvented as biden/this administration has been doing.
This is the new proposal the Bidden administration is advocating. Apply for asylum in their own country first and wait there for a court date, or approval. But with knuckleheads saying Biden is allowing the border to be open, along with the cartels and human traffickers reinforcing this false narrative, we have the situation we are in now.
This is a fight with OUR FEDERAL GOVT. Turning them over to them is only aiding and abetting. If the state doesn’t have the authority to deport them the only thing we can do is prevent the crossings.