The border crisis in Texas (TX) quickly becomes one of the most popular news stories currently in the United States. While illegal immigration has always been a problem for the US, recently it has gotten much worse. Since the year 2021, when the Biden Administration took office, the US Border Patrol has had 6.3 million encounters with illegal immigrants and 58 percent of those encounters took place in TX.
Around three years ago, TX launched Operation Lone Star, a state-level initiative which deploys the Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other law enforcement to secure and support border security. Since the beginning of this program, there have been many problems and disagreements in the actions taken. In September of 2023, the concertina wire placed by the Texas National Guard to help secure the border was cut without permission by Border Patrol. Soon after, TX sued in Federal Court and was granted a temporary restraining order against Border Patrol so they could not do anything to the wire unless it was a medical emergency and absolutely necessary.
TX governor Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration covering 48 counties in TX. Some actions being taken are building walls, deploying troops, and much more. These actions have cost tens of millions of dollars to uphold. While TX is the largest state in the lower 48, many other Republican governors are supporting Abbott and have decided to send members of the National Guard to aid TX. One of the most recent governors to step in on the action is Florida (FL) governor Ron DeSantis who has sent members of the National Guard to help and will soon send 1,000 members.
DeSantis recently stated, “The goal is to help Texas fortify this border, help them add the wire that they need to so that we can stop this invasion once and for all. And the states have to band together.”
Recently, the Texas National Guard seized a park owned by the town of Eagle Pass, TX and makes it even more difficult for migrants to pass across the Rio Grande.
A spokesperson for Abbott justified these actions by arguing that, “We need to deter and repel the record-high levels of illegal immigration invited by President Biden’s reckless open borders policies.”
Most every department involved in securing the border has had devastating budget cuts that have only worsened the situation with migrants growing in numbers and traveling over the border more and more every day.
The TX border crisis is one of the most popular news stories as of today and there are new updates coming out almost every hour. While most of the news people read about it seems chaotic, it gets worse and worse by the day.
