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WESLACO, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – In a mix of politics and politics, Governor Greg Abbott and former President Donald Trump visited the southern border of the Rio Grande Valley.
During a briefing at the Texas Department of Public Safety headquarters in Weslaco, the governor briefed the former president on the state’s efforts to respond to the sharp increase in the number of migrants entering Texas illegally. “We are doing this because our fellow Texans and our fellow Americans are threatened every day.”
US Border Patrol statistics show from the start of the fiscal year on October 1 through the end of May, nearly 585,000 people have been apprehended in Texas.
This is an increase of more than 400,000 people compared to the same period a year earlier.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton also attended the briefing, along with former Trump administration trustees including Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan.
Tarrant County Republican Sheriff Bill Waybourn spoke at the briefing and warned of the increase in the dangerous fentanyl drug smuggling from Mexico to north Texas. “A year ago, fentanyl was barely on our radar. Well today, my intelligence is that it has flooded our region. Even low-level dealers now have large amounts of fentanyl. “
After the briefing, the governor and the former president visited part of the unfinished border wall in Pharr.
In what appeared to be a campaign rally, Abbott and Trump addressed various Republican members of Congress and senators and members of the House of Republican States.
They criticized the Biden administration for stopping the US military’s embezzlement to build the border wall.
The governor said: “It’s Biden’s fault because President Biden is not continuing what President Trump started.”
In response, Abbott recently announced that Texas is building its own wall and made a down payment of $ 250 million.
Abbott praised the former president’s efforts to improve border security. “He has done more than any other president has ever done to secure our border.”
The idea to build a border wall came from former State Senator Don Huffines of Dallas, who is now challenging the governor in the Republican primary.
But Abbott got the coveted political prize.
The former president reminded his supporters that he had recently supported the governor. “I gave him full and total approval. I guess a lot of people who were thinking about running they say we’re never gonna beat this guy. They shouldn’t be able to beat you. You did a great job.
Trump has also backed Patrick for re-election, but has yet to endorse Paxton, who still faces state fraud charges and challenges from Republicans George P. Bush, the Texas Land Commissioner , and Eva Guzman, who recently resigned as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas.
The two said they were seeking approval from Trump.
The former president said to Paxton, “Good luck Ken, I know you have a race, a little race, ahead. I will be doing someone’s approval in the very near future.
The Texas Democratic Party slammed the governor in a statement saying, “Governor Abbott, come back to Austin and fix the damn network. Today’s Trump-Abbott caucus proves what we already knew: The GOP has nothing constructive to offer, so Republicans in Texas continue to look to the past.
Trump criticized the Biden administration and the Democrats. “The real question is, do they really want to open the borders or are they incompetent?
Last week Vice President Kamala Harris said she and President Joe Biden inherited a broken and inhumane immigration system.
Presidential administrations have changed, but there is still no action by Congress to resolve the problem at the southern border.
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