Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that the Biden administration just reversed its stance on his decision to shut all six ports of entry that migrants from Mexico just an hour after he announced it on Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday, the Republican governor said he directed the Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to shut down six points of entry on the southern border to “stop these caravans from overrunning our state.”
“The sheer negligence of the Biden Administration to do their job and secure the border is appalling,” he had said in a statement on Thursday afternoon. The statement released by Abbott’s office did not specify which six ports of entry would be shuttered or how long the closure would last. However, Abbott said the federal agency, Customs and Border Protection, asked the state to step in and assist.
As the Texas National Guard and Department of Public Safety officers that generally “deter crossings” along with the military and police cannot arrest migrants on immigration crimes, the Texas governor could only acquiesce with the decision as only the federal law enforcement has the right to do so.
Even the Border Patrol does not have facility to detain and process the thousands of migrants that they encounter on a regular basis. Plus, an unknown number of people are also evading detection when crossing and getting away.
Unfortunately for Abbott, shortly after announcing the closure, the Biden administration refused to close off the federally-operated ports, prompting Abbott to reverse course, and say that the ports would be staying open.
“Six hours after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection requested help from Texas to close ports of entry and secure the border, the Biden Administration has now flip-flopped to a different strategy that abandons border security and instead makes it easier for people to cross illegally and for cartels to exploit the border,” Abbott said in a statement.
He lambasted the Biden administration for the bad handling of border crisis, saying that “the Biden Administration is in complete disarray and is handling the border crisis as badly as the evacuations from Afghanistan.”
