Texas Governor Greg Abbott has boasted that he built more border wall than even former President Donald Trump during his time in office.
At a news conference at the Eagle Pass border point, which has become the epicenter of a political and legal showdown with the Biden administration, Abbott also boasted that Texas is the only state building its own border wall.
“If you look at the amount of wall already built and the amount of wall that will be under construction, Texas will have built more ‘Trump wall’ than even Trump built in the state of Texas,” Abbott said Thursday from Shelby. Park.
Last month, Abbott took control of Shelby Park, an urban park in Eagle Pass that has become a preferred entry point for immigrants crossing illegally into the United States.
Abbott expelled federal U.S. Border Patrol agents from the park, accusing the Biden Administration of failing to secure the border.
At the news conference, Abbot also boasted of other measures to secure the border, including the state’s arrest of 497,600 illegal immigrants, mostly under trespass laws.
Of those, more than 39,000 were arrested while committing other crimes, with more than 35,200 charged with serious crimes.
In the fight against the fentanyl crisis, Texas authorities have seized more than 458 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.
Gov. Greg Abbott spoke at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass on Thursday flanked by state officials.
The Texas border wall is 30 feet high and made of steel panels anchored by concrete, according to the Texas Facilities Commission, the agency in charge of the project.
Abbott broke ground on state border barrier in 2021
“Texas is the first and only state in the history of the United States of America to build our own border wall.”
Former President Donald Trump built 458 miles of border along the nation’s southern border, 55 miles of it in the Lone Star State, federal statistics show.
Under Abbott’s direction, the border state has built at least 20 miles of barrier, with more miles currently under construction, with state and private funding, according to the state.
As of December, at least $55 million in private donations had been donated to build the wall. state figures show.
Abbott began construction of the steel bollard panels in 2021, when President Joe Biden took office and halted work on the federal border wall.
The state’s border barrier is being funded by Lone Star State taxpayers, as well as $55 million in private donations.
The construction of the wall is part of the governor’s ‘Operation Lone Star,’ his border security initiative.
After a wave of crimes committed by immigrants, lawmakers in the Lone Star State also approved a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison for anyone convicted of smuggling illegal immigrants into the state.
Abbott took credit for the plummeting number of immigrants crossing into the United States through Texas.
“Although Texas represents two-thirds of the border, we represent only about 30% of the crossings,” explained the Republican.
‘The main crossing areas are California, Arizona and New Mexico. They represent 70% of crossings.’
The Del Río sector, through which Eagle Pass, according to the Border Patrol, had been the busiest area for the passage of migrants until recently.
Now, remote Lukeville, Arizona, has become the number one crossing point.
That’s where Border Patrol agents are seeing an explosion in the number of Chinese nationals crossing the border.
A staggering 37,000 Chinese immigrants crossed illegally from Mexico into the United States last year, 50 times more than in previous years.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott says migrant crossings in Eagle Pass, Texas, have decreased significantly
A Chinese migrant seeking asylum holds his passport and documents while being photographed by a US Border Patrol in December 2023.
CBP sources said the total number of migrant crossings since October has surpassed one million, compared to the same period last year at 923,446.
‘The main crossing areas are California, Arizona and New Mexico. They represent 70% of crossings.’
The Del Río sector, through which Eagle Pass, according to the Border Patrol, had been the busiest area for the passage of migrants until recently.
Now, remote Lukeville, Arizona, has become the number one crossing point.
That’s where Border Patrol agents are seeing an explosion in the number of Chinese nationals crossing the border.
A staggering 37,000 Chinese immigrants crossed illegally from Mexico into the United States last year, 50 times more than in previous years.
Since October, another 20,000 Chinese citizens have crossed the international border seeking asylum.
The trend has raised concerns that the Chinese government is not sending those immigrants to the United States with dark intentions.
“We would be incredibly narcissistic to assume that these people come here just because they’re in the neighborhood,” said television host Dr. Phil, who visited Eagle Pass last week.
‘What are they doing? If you work in agriculture, if you work in industry, I promise you that you are expected to do certain things. Are they spying? Are they sending agricultural seeds to China? Do you receive plans from the industries you work in?