Texas seeks help to combat growing border crisis

January 28, 2022 Amber Coakley US 0

FILE - In this Tuesday, June 8, 2021, file photo, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a news conference in Austin, Texas. Abbott is reviving the GOP’s thwarted efforts to pass new voting laws in America’s biggest red state. His announcement Wednesday, July 7, comes after Democrats temporarily derailed a restrictive bill with a late-night walkout in the state Capitol in May. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

FILE – In this Tuesday, June 8, 2021, file photo, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a news conference in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

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UPDATED 7:52 AM PT – Friday, January 28, 2022

Texas leadership said the state is stepping up where the current administration has failed. Governor Greg Abbott slammed Joe Biden during a border security briefing with 12 attorneys general in Weslaco, Texas on Thursday. He emphasized the importance for Texas to collaborate with other states in order to secure the border since Biden isn’t doing it.

The Republican governor added, he’s signed laws that provide $3 billion in funding for Texas’ border security efforts while also signing nine laws that crack down on human trafficking. Additionally, Abbott proposed an action item to crack down on social media outlets that facilitate human trafficking.

“Cartels in Mexico are using TikTok to advertise, to recruit smugglers in Texas,” he stated. “San Antonio, Houston and other cities in Texas, and maybe in some other states, to advertise for smugglers for pay…for them to smuggle people here in Texas, which would include victims of human trafficking. that must be shut down.”

Abbott also signed a law enhancing penalties for the manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl. Public Safety Director Steven McCraw went on to emphasize why Border Patrol is overwhelmed.

“We’ve had influxes before, but never to this level,” he explained. “We’ve never had over 1.3 million apprehensions in Texas in a calendar year, never before. Border Patrol is swamped. Not only that, they’ve got family units and unaccompanied children, so their facilities are not to be able to handle that.”

McCraw said in order to secure the border, the state needs infrastructure.

“You have to have good infrastructure, you have to have detection technology, and you have to have boots on the ground,” he stated. “Plain and simple, and you can’t secure it from Washington.”

Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers are blasting the Biden administration for continuing to allow an influx of migrants, saying the White House must reverse course and put the safety of the American people first.