GOP govs go to Texas to rally around Abbott who vows to extend border security, Biden showdown

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said that he is expanding his U.S. border security effort and he slammed the Biden administration as his state is in a legal standoff with the White House over the illegal immigration crisis.

Abbott was joined Sunday by 13 other Republican governors as he spoke in Eagle Pass, Texas, where Texas has been accused of preventing federal officials from going through Shelby Park to access the Rio Grande River or from using the municipal park to process migrants.

"Until the Biden Administration decides to do its job and secure the border, Texas—with the support of 25 of America’s Governors—will continue to step up and protect our nation from the catastrophe caused by President Biden," Abbott said Sunday, according to his office.

"As we speak right now, the Texas National Guard, they’re undertaking operations to expand this effort," Abbott also said, according to The New York Times. "We’re not going to contain ourselves to this park. We are expanding to further areas to make sure we expand our level of deterrence and denial of illegal entry into the United States."

The Biden administration has insisted that border security is under federal jurisdiction, but Abbott has deployed the Texas National Guard and state police officers along the Texas border since 2021. The following year, Texas began placing razor wire along the border and began busing migrants to Democratic-run cities across the United States as part of what the state calls Operation Lone Star. The Supreme Court ruled last month that federal agents are allowed to remove the wire. 

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