Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott bypasses Washington, strikes deal with Mexico to secure border

Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Wednesday that he’s reached an agreement with the governor of the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon to secure part of the Texas-Mexico border – a move welcomed by local communities after the Biden administration’s lax border policies have left officials along the border “feeling defeated.”

“Governor Samuel García signed a memorandum of understanding between the State of Texas and the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León to enhance border security measures that will prevent illegal immigration from Mexico to Texas and improve the flow of traffic across the Colombia Solidarity International Bridge,” Abbott’s office said in a press release, adding that “the agreement goes into effect immediately.

While announcing the new partnership, the Republican governor blasted the White House for rolling back key border security measures such as Title 42 – the Trump-era policy which allowed officials to quickly remove migrants during the coronavirus pandemic, the Daily Wire reported.

“Texans demand and deserve an aggressive, comprehensive border security strategy that will protect our communities from the dangerous consequences related to illegal immigration,” Abbott said.

“Until President Biden enforces the immigration laws passed by Congress, Texas will step up and use its own strategies to secure the border and negotiate with Mexico to seek solutions that will keep Texans safe.”

“This historic memorandum of understanding between Texas and Nuevo León is a major step in the Lone Star State’s efforts to secure the border in the federal government’s absence,” he added.

The press release further noted that “governors from Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Chihuahua, as well as the Chief Officer for the North American Unit at the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs, have been in contact with the Office of the Governor and the Texas Secretary of State about signing similar memorandums.”

Earlier this month, Governor Abbott promised to send undocumented migrants released by federal authorities in Texas to Washington, D.C. — a promise he delivered on earlier this week.

“With the Biden administration ending Title 42 expulsions in May, Texas will be taking its own unprecedented actions this month to do what no state in America has ever done in the history of this country to better secure our state, as well as our nation,” Abbott said.

“To help local officials whose communities are being overwhelmed with hordes of illegal immigrants who are being dropped off by the Biden administration, Texas is providing charter buses to send these illegal immigrants who have been dropped off by the Biden administration to Washington, D.C.,” the governor explained. “We are sending them to the United States capital where the Biden administration will be able to more immediately address the needs of the people that they are allowing to come across our border.”

According to a Fox News report, the first bus carrying dozens of undocumented migrants arrived in Washington, D.C. from Texas on Wednesday morning carrying migrants from Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

After parking near the U.S. Capitol building at approximately 8 a.m., migrants disembarked one by one, except for family units who exited together, and checked in with officials who cut off the wristbands they were wearing before telling them they could go.

Although critics have blasted Abbott’s bus tactic as mere political theater, the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) has said that the governor’s plan is working. Agency officials told Fox News on Monday that local governments that originally reached out for support have reported that the federal government is no longer dropping immigrants in their towns since Abbott announced his plan last week.