Texas GOP Governor Greg Abbott announced a new Texas Tactical Border Force Monday before the expiration of Title 42 public health order. The order helped block migrants from entering the United States.
The Texas National Guard is loading C-130s and Black Hawk helicopters and deploying specially trained national guard members to “hotspots along the border to intercept, to repel and to turn back migrants who are trying to enter Texas illegally,” in response to “Joe Biden’s reckless border policies,” according to Gov. Abbott, speaking at a press conference in Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
The Texas National Guard said it had reactivated 545 more service members to locations across the state Monday to “reinforce the border mission in anticipation of the end of Title 42 immigration restrictions.”
“These additional forces will bolster the thousands of Texas National Guard service members already assisting local and state law enforcement agencies in securing the border; stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and people into Texas; and prevent, detect, and interdict transnational criminal behavior between the ports of entry,” said the Texas National Guard in a Monday statement.
“We have expanded our capabilities to include boat teams that patrol hundreds of river miles, drones and helicopters that detect illicit activity from the air, and brush teams, security points, and roving patrols that block and interdict illegal smuggling (drugs, weapons, and people) into Texas.”
Gov. Abbott joined by Border Czar, Public Safety Director, and National Guard General for the announcement
Gov. Abbott was joined by Texas Border Czar Mike Banks, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, and Texas National Guard Adjunct General Thomas Suelzer in making the announcement.
“President Biden is laying down a welcome mat to people across the entire world saying that the United States border is wide open, and it will lead to an incredible amount of people coming across the border illegally. President Biden’s open border policies are going to cause a catastrophic disaster in the United States,” said Abbott.
“According to the Biden administration itself, they anticipate about 13,000 people coming across the border illegally every single day,” added the governor. “If you extend that out over the course of a year, it means it will be about 4,700,000 people coming across the border a year. That will mean there will be more people coming across the border illegally than there are residents of the massive city of Chicago.”
The Texas Tactical Border Force is meant to provide a bolster for Operation Lone Star, which the governor said has said have already pushed back 37,000 people who have already made their way across the border illegally and arrested around 27,000 dangerous criminals, including “cartel gang members” who are wanted for crimes including murder, and seized “enough fentanyl that would have been enough to kill every man, woman, and child in the United States.”
