Texas is on track to build more of Donald Trump’s famous border wall than the former president’s own administration in the state, Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday.
“Texas is the first and only state in the history of the United States to build our own border wall,” Abbott said during a news conference at Shelby Park.
“If you look at the number of walls that have been built and the number of walls that will be built, Texas will build more of Trump’s border wall than Trump has built in the state of Texas,” the governor boasted.
The Lone Star State has also erected about 160 miles of barriers — including razor wire fences, anti-climb barriers, Conex boxes and buoys in the river — that do not include walls, according to Abbott.
Texas has also stepped up its enforcement along the southern border amid the ongoing immigration crisis, which Abbott declared “the biggest border crisis since America had a border.”
“If you look at the number of walls that have been built and the number of walls that will be under construction, Texas will build more of Trump’s border wall than Trump has built in the state of Texas,” Abbott said Thursday. James Keivom Although Texas covers about two-thirds of the US-Mexico border, less than one-third of border crossings now occur in the state — a change that occurred only in the past year and a half, Abbott said. Getty Images
The Texas Department of Public Safety has made more than 39,000 criminal arrests, detained more than 480,000 immigrants in the country illegally, prevented more than 95,000 illegal entries, been involved in more than 4,300 rescues and filed more than 19,000 charges for smuggling, according to the governor.
The Texas National Guard has also turned away more than 90,000 people trying to cross the border illegally, Abbott said.
A combination of those measures has proven successful in reducing the number of people crossing into the US through the state.
“The results are amazing,” Abbott told reporters.
Illegal border crossings through Shelby Park have dropped from 2,000 to 4,000 a day to an average of just under 10 a day since Texas took control from federal authorities, according to the governor. James Keivom
Although Texas covers about two-thirds of the US-Mexico border, less than one-third of border crossings occur in the state — a change that has occurred only in the last half year or so, he said.
“Now, unlike before, immigrants are choosing to go to states other than Texas and that’s because Texas has put up the resistance,” Abbott said. “At the beginning of the Biden administration, most immigrants came through Texas. That [no longer] true.”
One of the most visible signs of Texas’ success in preventing illegal entry into the country is the data at Shelby Park — once a hotbed of illegal border crossings.
Since Texas took control of Eagle Pass Park from the US Department of Homeland Security, the number of illegal crossings has dropped drastically.
The Lone Star State has erected about 160 miles of barriers — including razor wire fences, anti-climb barriers, Conex boxes and buoys in the river — separate from its border wall. Reuters
“If you look at this large area of the park, this is an area where you would regularly see 2,000, 3,000, maybe 4,000 people crossing the border illegally,” Abbott said inside Shelby Park. “Since this park has been taken over by [Texas] National Guard, the daily average is below 10 per day.
“It shows that deterrence can achieve results in reducing illegal immigration,” he added. “The only reason why it hasn’t happened is because the president of the United States hasn’t enforced the laws that are already on the books.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
