Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) announced sweeping new measures aimed at keeping illegal migrants out of the United States as thousands have unlawfully crossed the border through his state under the Biden Administration.
On Sunday, Abbott announced that state officers will soon be allowed to arrest and detain illegal aliens in an effort to curb the mass numbers of migrants entering the U.S. through the southern border.
"Well, I'll tell you a couple of things very interesting. For one, the problem is extraordinarily bad. The numbers are high, and that is because Joe Biden continues to lay out the welcome mat, welcoming illegal immigrants into the United States of America," Abbott told FOX News Channels’ Sunday Morning Futures with host Maria Bartiromo.
The governor's announcement comes in response to several lawsuits brought against Texas by the Biden Administration, which has fought to keep the border open.
"That said, what we've seen in our numbers in the state of Texas is because of the wall that we have built, because of these razor-wide barriers that we have built, Texas is now no longer the number one illegal entry point," Abbott said. "It is the Tucson sector, the San Diego sector, and other states. And Texas is causing the cartels to have to alter their routes, their routes where people are coming across the border illegally… Texas is having to step up and do even more to make sure that we deny illegal entry into the state of Texas."
In two weeks, Abbott intends to sign the new law that will make it illegal for migrants to enter Texas from another country illegally while at the same time granting permission to every peace officer in the state to arrest them.
He is also sounding alarms on the dangers of President Joe Biden's open border policies, saying they pose an "existential threat" to the nation that allows Chinese nationals to enter through the border.
"We have people from China coming here. We also have people on the known terrorist watch list who are coming across the border," the governor pointed out.
Abbott called out Biden for allowing the U.S. to succumb to potential threats, adding that he feels it is his responsibility to apprehend as many of these people as possible.
According to Border Patrol data, the Del Rio border sector, where Eagle Pass is, has recorded 317,866 migrant encounters this year. The Rio Grande Valley Sector has seen a 200 percent increase since August in illegal migrant surges.
In the last year, over 2,378,944 illegal migrants, the highest record ever, have entered the country at the hands of Biden's woke Democratic policies.
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