On Saturday, the state of Texas announced that it would begin construction of its own portion of the southern border wall using state funds, as reported by Breitbart.
At a press conference where he unveiled the already-underway construction, Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) said that “the state of Texas has taken comprehensive action to secure our southern border and address the border crisis while [Joe] Biden has sat idly by.”
“In June,” Abbott continued, “I promised Texans that we would step up in the federal government’s absence and build our own border wall. We have wasted no time in the six months since that promise was made, and I am proud to announce that construction of the Texas border wall is now underway.” The new wall, Abbott said, would help “combat illegal immigration, stop the smuggling of drugs and people, and keep our communities safe.”
The sector in which the state-funded border wall is being constructed is one of the highest-trafficked areas of the entire southern border. In the month of November alone, nearly 48,000 illegal aliens were apprehended in the sector, marking a 175 percent increase from the previous November’s total. Overall, Fiscal Year 2021 saw over 1.1 million illegals apprehended trying to cross the border in Texas, which accounts for 70 percent of all apprehensions along the southern border.
The actions taken by the state government of Texas were in response to the Biden Administration’s hands-off approach to the border, making good on Biden’s campaign promises to let the borders open and allow as many illegals as possible to come into the country. The Texas legislature passed a bill in September authorizing $1.8 billion on additional border security measures, including partial construction of the border wall.
As such, although the state of Texas does not have the authority to charge illegals with federal crimes, Abbot took steps to see illegals charged with state crimes. On Saturday, Abbott reiterated that “people we apprehend will be charged with trespassing to the state of Texas, and those charges will lead to them going to jail.”