Texas Governor Greg Abbott was at the US-Mexico border in Starr County on Saturday to kick off work on a border wall funded entirely by p...
Texas Governor Greg Abbott was at the US-Mexico border in Starr County on Saturday to kick off work on a border wall funded entirely by private donors and state funds.
Abbott has championed the wall, which will take up $1 billion in state money and $54 million from private sector gifts, after President Joe Biden paused federal border wall construction for a review on his first day in office. He then canceled several federal contracts for it.
The construction begins as it was revealed that migrant crossing attempts at the southern border rose 140% from November 2021.
Abbott has aimed to crack down on migration through his Operation Lone Star Initiative, which utilizes Texas' National Guard and its Department of Public Safety.
The initiative has already placed physical hurdles, like steel shipping containers, on borderlines to block migrants.
'While Biden does nothing, we are stepping up to protect our communities,' Abbott tweeted on Saturday.
'The Lone Star State is securing the border.'
Texas Governor Greg Abbott was at the US-Mexico border in Starr County Saturday to kick off work on a border wall funded entirely by private donors and state funds
Abbott, a Republican, has aimed to crack down on migration through his Operation Lone Star Initiative, which utilizes Texas' National Guard and its Department of Public Safety
Some of the wall had already been begun by federal contracts under the Trump administration
Abbott claims that the wall is attempt to step up in the wake of President Biden stopping federal wall building contracts
Posillico Civil Inc., an engineering company, was awarded a $162million contract from the state in November. They had installed 880 feet of barrier by Saturday afternoon.
Abbott told Fox News that not only would his wall secure the border in a way he believes Biden won't, it'll get built at a faster pace than the Trump administration did.
'There are so many large landowners on the border who are so fed up with the Biden administration they are allowing Texas to build the border wall on their property,' Abbott told Tucker Carlson Friday. 'We have 100 miles or so of land that's being donated to the state of Texas for us to build the wall to better secure our border.'
During an appearance on Fox Business on Friday, Abbott said that the Texas legislature had allocated $3 billion for the project.
'Three billion dollars of Texas taxpayer money has been devoted to this cause of Texas securing the border, and so we have a lot of money available to us to continue to build the wall,' Abbott said, adding, 'For Texas [this] is going to cost less than it did for the Trump administration for one reason. And that's because in Texas, unlike the Trump administration, we're not having to devote money to acquire the land …The state of Texas owns [land] on the border itself.'
President Biden not only ordered a pause to attempts to build the wall, he also canceled several federal contracts
Former President Donald Trump speaks near a section of the border wall as it began building during his tenure
Abbott said Texas would try to get the federal government to foot the bill.
'We are seeking federal government to pay for this and there have been requests made by members of the Texas Congressional Delegation to the federal government for funding to get all of this done,' Abbott said. 'Texas will also be bringing legal action against the federal government for the state of Texas to get reimbursed for all the costs we have incurred to do the federal government's job.'
Customs and Border Patrol officials encountered nearly 10,000 more border crossing attempts in November than October, up 140% over last November, according to newly released statistics.
Agents reported 173,620 encounters at the US-Mexico border in November, up from 164,303 encounters reported in October. The November figure is still down from 192,001 encounters in September and 209,840 in August.
In November 2020, there were 72,113 crossings.
Agents saw 127,653 unique individuals attempt to cross, a 10% increase over October. More than 50% were processed for expulsion under Title 42, a coronavirus public health order.
Encounters with unaccompanied children rose 9% to 13,959.
Fiscal year 2021 saw the highest number of border crossings on record at 1.7 million.
CBP commissioner Chris Magnus struck a positive tone on the new border figures.
'CBP's November Monthly Operational Update reflects an incredible amount of work on behalf of the American people to keep dangerous drugs and products out of our communities, to facilitate travel and billions of dollars in trade, and to maintain security along our borders,' Magnus said in a statement.
'It's an honor to lead a workforce whose mission is so vital to our economic health and national security. CBP's vigilance is key to disrupting smugglers and transnational criminal organizations as they exploit vulnerable populations and attempt to traffic illegal and dangerous products.'
Agents reported 173,620 encounters at the US-Mexico border in November, up from 164,303 encounters reported in October
The November figure is still down from 192,001 encounters in September and 209,840 in August
Meanwhile, the Biden administration this month was forced to resume former President Trump's Remain-in-Mexico policy by court order. Two bids by the Biden administration to end the policy, which requires those seeking asylum to wait in Mexico while their claims are being processed, were overruled in court.
And on Friday Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that Democrats cannot include immigration reform in President Biden's Build Back Better plan being debated in the Senate.
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