Texas has had a big rise in illegal immigration over the last few months, which is why the state is constantly pushing and asking for help to make its borders safer. Several states led by Republicans have joined forces to help Texas deal with this problem. Among them, Florida, led by Governor Ron DeSantis, has stood out by sending more than 1,000 troops to help Texas when the federal government isn’t there to provide proper help.
Illegal immigration in Texas is now better, but immigrants chose California and Arizona instead
These steps taken by Florida are working, especially when combined with those taken by Texas to make the border safer, such as putting up more razor wire barriers. Recently, the governor of Texas said on X, which used to be called Twitter, that these joint efforts are making the state’s border security much better.
But it looks like illegal immigrants are finding new ways to get into the United States as Texas’s borders get stronger. More and more of them are choosing to come through Arizona and California instead.
“More National Guard & razor wire barriers are coming to the Texas border,” Abbott wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday. “We’ re-doubling our efforts to expand the areas where we are denying illegal entry into Texas. Illegal immigration is now going down in Texas while increasing in [California] & [Arizona].”
Razor wire continues to be the main weapon in securing the border
Texas put up lots of razor wire in Shelby Park, a place where many try to enter the U.S. from Mexico without permission. This is just one of the strong steps Governor Abbott has taken to stop people from coming into the U.S. this way.
In January, Texas took over Shelby Park and started to keep Border Patrol officers out, making tensions with the Biden government worse. The Justice Department argued the wire impedes the government’s ability to patrol the border and go to the aid of migrants in need of help.
Even though the U.S. Supreme Court decided last month that Border Patrol could cut or take away the wire, Texas is putting up more. Abbott kept pushing back, claiming Texas has the right to protect itself.
During a news briefing at Shelby Park on Thursday, Abbott mentioned plans to bring in more National Guard soldiers and add more wire barriers.
“The tools and strategies that [the Texas Department of Public Safety] and the Texas Military Department use to secure the border would not happen without members of the Texas Legislature, like those with me here today,” Abbott said.
“Working together, we will expand current operations in other parts of the border to decrease illegal immigration and ensure that we add more soldiers in the border region.”
12 Republican governors joined in Texas last week to support Texas Gov. Abbott
The governor said something similar when he went to the border with 12 other governors from the Republican party.
Since 2021, a bunch of Republican governors have sent their state’s National Guard to help at the border.
“Federal negligence enforcing immigration law and the failure to secure our country’s border jeopardizes national and economic security, affecting every state, including #Indiana,” Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb wrote on X on Friday after announcing he was deploying the Indiana National Guard to Texas.
This action follows the failure of an agreement aimed at changing the asylum process to make immigration rules stricter and faster. It also would have let the Department of Homeland Security close the border to most migrants temporarily if more than 5,000 people tried to cross every day for a week.
More National Guard & razor wire barriers are coming to the Texas border.
We’ re-doubling our efforts to expand the areas where we are denying illegal entry into Texas.
Illegal immigration is now going down in Texas while increasing in CA & AZ. https://t.co/l4ct1Fe722
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) February 11, 2024
