Governor Greg Abbott of Texas stated on Sunday that President Joe Biden’s visit to El Paso is happening two years too late and will fall roughly $20 billion short of what is necessary.
According to the Republican from Texas, Biden will only move deck chairs on the Titanic, and there will be no improvements to border security or reductions in illegal immigration due to his efforts.
This would be the first time Biden has visited the border with Mexico since he became President. His talk will likely center around immigration and the excessive trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic narcotics. It’s en route to Mexico City for a summit gathering of North American leaders, including the Presidents of Mexico and Canada.
Abbott said that his office was not informed of Biden’s arrival until Saturday night and that he had not been invited to meet Biden in El Paso.
The visit follows last week’s announcement by the administration of additional measures to strengthen border security, including stricter regulations for immigration from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Abbott, though, claimed the strategy was more of an enticement than enforcement.
Abbott believes that as President, Biden is legally obligated to carry out specific laws. For example, he must detain unlawful border crossers and prevent their release, and Biden has the authority to prosecute illegal border crossers. Third, federal courts have mandated that he actively enforce Mexico’s Title 42 and stay within the country’s regulations.
The governor emphasized for the fourth time that Biden needs to construct a border wall. He could do these things if he wanted to stop illegal immigration, but that is not his objective.
Abbott has issued various orders to the National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety to prevent unauthorized border crossings.
He went on to say that as the number of immigrants arriving at El Paso recently spiked, he sent orders for the National Guard to erect razor wire and other obstacles like container boxes similar to the ones the administration has been fighting in Arizona.
Abbott, though, doesn’t think it strange that Texas hasn’t heard anything about the hurdles from the federal government.
One of the issues with the Biden administration is a lack of leadership. Abbott stated that Texas has simple solutions the Biden administration could utilize to do something about this, but they don’t care about preventing illegal immigration.
Abbott added that preparations are being made to make El Paso presentable for President Biden; the White House does not want the American people to witness the anarchy it has imposed. Thousands of border residents in Texas, whose lives have been upended by the President’s policies, deserve to be heard by the Biden administration. Still, Abbott says Biden has no intention of talking with those people. He will be given a sugar-coated version of events and lack the context he needs to address the problem.
On the other hand, Texas is increasing its efforts to find and seize fentanyl. Abbott announced that Texas has confiscated enough fentanyl that could kill every American in the United States and that by the end of the year, additional construction will be done on the wall that former President Trump was permitted to begin while in office.