After the Supreme Court voted to allow federal agents to cut down wire placed around the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott continues to fight to keep his state and its citizens safe from the thousands of illegal immigrants trying to enter the country.
Since Texas law enforcement started arresting illegal immigrants crossing through Shelby Park, they began traveling onto private property, causing problems for ranchers.
On Wednesday, Texas Border Czar Mike Banks announced to a room full of ranchers that the state would install razor wire to keep illegal immigrants off of their property for free.
Abbott defended the idea, stating that the state would step up since Biden refused to secure the border.
“The truth of the matter is, what Texas is doing, is what Americans expect to be done,” he said. “Americans expect the border to be secured. Because Joe Biden has abandoned that responsibility, Texas is stepping up.”
Ranchers living close to Eagle Pass have found it difficult to protect their property from being trespassed on. Rancher Luis Valderrama told The Daily Mail that he had seen groups as large as 200 passing through his 400-acre ranch daily.
To protect his property, Valderrama said that he has an eight-foot fence that has razor wire on the top. Still, illegal immigrants manage to get across.
“I’m watching these (migrants) cross and I’m like, ‘Wait ’til they come across. They’re not going to know what to do.’ Nah, they came up and they just hopped over it like deer. I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
Valderrama, a retired Border Patrol agent, said that illegals will continue to cross the border because there are no consequences if they get caught.
“There’s nothing you really do. If migrants know when they get across and they turn themselves in, they’re just going to get processed and released, there’s no stopping them,” he said.
In their case with Texas, the Biden administration stated that they wanted the razor wire taken down because it could injure any illegals climbing over. Abbott stated that Texas has a constitutional right to defend itself against the illegal “invasion.”
My statement on Texas’ constitutional right to self-defense. pic.twitter.com/seNFZdmujP
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 24, 2024
