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Texas Gov. Abbott Blasts Biden Administration’s ‘Reckless’ Immigration Move, Saying It Endangers Americans

Bethany Blankley, The Center Square

Texas Governor. Greg Abbott blasted President Joe Biden Friday for making what he called another “reckless” immigration policy decision to terminate the public health rule known as Title 42. According to law enforcement officials, this will increase the illegal immigration numbers that are expected to enter the country by more than twice the amount who came illegally last year.

“President Biden’s open-border policies are an unmitigated disaster for national security,” Abbott said in a statement. “His recklessness has forced the State of Texas to take unprecedented steps to fill the gaps – including deploying Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and over 10,000 Texas National Guard soldiers, jailing illegal immigrants who are charged with trespassing, and becoming the first state ever to build a wall to secure the border.

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“Instead of listening to the millions of Americans that his administration has endangered – and instead of enforcing immigration laws passed by Congress – President Biden has chosen to jeopardize the safety and security of those very Americans he swore to protect and defend by ending Title 42 expulsions.”

Title 42 can be used to prevent entry from the U.S. during public health emergencies. Trump used it to try and slow down the spread the coronavirus. Friday was the Centers for Disease Control Announcement it was terminating Title 42 on May 23.

“After considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19 (such as highly effective vaccines and therapeutics), the CDC Director has determined that an Order suspending the right to introduce migrants into the United States is no longer necessary,” the CDC said.

Instead, DHS will be implementing “appropriate COVID-19 mitigation protocols, such as scaling up a program to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to migrants and prepare for resumption of regular migration under Title 8,” it said in a statement.

Abbott said that ending Title 42 expulsions “will signal to cartels and migrants alike that our southern border is now wide open – inciting even more violence, more trafficking, and more lawlessness.

“President Biden clearly has no intention to secure the border by faithfully executing Congress’ command to detain and deport illegal immigrants,” the Texas governor said. “His actions will only further endanger Texans, and the State of Texas must take even more unprecedented action to keep our communities safe by using any and all constitutional powers to protect its own territory.”

Last March, in response to Biden’s open border policies, Abbott launched Operation Lone Star (OLS), a law enforcement initiative to thwart criminal activity at the border. OLS has enabled state and local law enforcement officials to follow and apprehend drug smugglers as well as interdict weapons, drugs, and rescue people who have been trafficked.

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The Texas legislature approved funding for a Texas wall and allocated $3 billion last year to strengthen border security. This was the first state legislature to do so.

Texas state troopers, sheriffs and police officers are all present at the border. Around 10,000 members of Texas’ Army National Guard provide support for overwatch and administrative duties. They assisted in the capture of suspected human traffickers as well as illegal immigrants this week. A woman was found in a bag and left behind by her smuggler, according to authorities.

A group of 16 people wearing military camouflage and boots covered in carpets was also apprehended by the Texas National Guard this week. In order to prevent footprints from being left in the dirt and sand, law enforcement can use boots covered to hide them. They were captured by Texas guardsmen who tracked them through thick foliage that runs along the Rio Grande River.

On Thursday, DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez Submitted Fox News that once Title 42 is revoked, “what we’re going to see” at the border, “is complete chaos. We’re already over 800,000 for the first five months of the fiscal year,” referring to illegal immigrants, he said. “And now we’re going to hit one million after these first six months are complete. The border crisis is continuing to worsen than last year. We are on track to hit well over 2 million by the end of this fiscal year.”

Multi-agency Texas efforts have led to the arrests of over 225,000 illegal immigrant immigrants and the making of 13,027 criminal charges.

OLS efforts led to the confiscation or nearly $30 million worth of currency and weapons brought into America illegally. DPS officers have confiscated more than 289 million fatal doses of fentanyl in their battle against it.

The Center Square permission granted this syndicated version.