Texas Putting Up New Barrier at New Mexico Border

(USNewsBreak.com) – When President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, he stopped all construction on the border wall separating the US and Mexico. It didn’t take long for Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) to launch Operation Lone Star, his own initiative to keep migrants out of his state. Now, he’s enacting another stage — erecting a barrier on the Texas-New Mexico state line.

Abbott revealed that migrants were skirting around Texas’ wall by entering New Mexico and then traveling into El Paso in a post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter. To put an end to that practice, he announced they were building a barrier on the border it shares with New Mexico. Images show Texas National Guardsmen placing barbed wire along the Rio Grande.

Texas installs barrier at New Mexico border to deter migrants https://t.co/CmsK899kAo pic.twitter.com/2oFnDGCRgg

— The Hill (@thehill) October 19, 2023

Both Texas Democrats and the Democratic Party of New Mexico issued a statement on what they are calling the “latest border distraction.” They derided Abbott for “adding more fuel to Operation Lone Star’s dumpster fire” rather than coming up with solutions to address the growing immigration problem. The two groups also condemned his use of taxpayer dollars in erecting the barrier and said it would cause damage to the environment, injure migrants, and divide the community. Further, they called “for its removal effective immediately.”

President Joe Biden has also given the go-ahead to erect new barriers in Texas, breaking a campaign promise that no more walls would be built while he was in office. His administration had to waive 26 federal laws to allow construction to continue. When discussing the move, he explained the funds had already been allocated to the cause, meaning he had no legal way to stop it.

According to a press release, Operation Lone Star has led to nearly 500,000 migrant apprehensions and more than 35,000 arrests since its inception. More than 32,000 of those incidents involved felony charges. Texas has also bussed more than 50,000 migrants to so-called sanctuary cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, DC.