For months, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been vocal about his state’s efforts to resume construction on the border wall to slow the record number of migrants illegally flooding into the U.S. along the Lone Star State’s border with Mexico.
Now Fox News reports the Republican governor has found an innovative way to do that, trying to plug the holes in the border wall with old shipping containers. They’re meant to serve as obstacles at specified points where these migrants are known to cross.
During an appearance Thursday on Fox & Friends, U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) called Abbott’s use of the containers “a great idea.”
“It’s a tool that the governor is using to try to help slow down, curb this invasion, this invasion that we’re seeing at our southern border,” he said.
Nehls, who previously served as a sheriff in the Rio Grande Valley, said the containers are being used to “channel” migrants into areas where law enforcement and Border Patrol have more officers and agents.
“We have 1,250 miles of border in Texas. That’s a lot of area to cover and we’re doing the federal government’s job for them because they refuse to do it on their own,” the Texas congressman told Fox.
Nehls said inactivity from both the Biden administration and Congress have forced the governors of southern states to add to the federal government’s border enforcement.
As CBN News reported, it all started when President Biden immediately halted border fence construction the moment he took office, leaving gaps along areas where the fence had mostly been completed.
Officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the National Guard have since been deployed to help overwhelmed Border Patrol agents deal with the crisis.
In this Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, file photo trucks line up next to containers at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, Calif. Old containers like the ones shown are being used in Texas to plug holes in the U.S. border wall. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
Last week, Abbott told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson about his plans to shore up the border wall.
“We began dropping these large containers that you see on 18 wheelers, you also see on these ships that are going across the ocean,” Abbott told Carlson. “We’re dropping them down on locations that could be crossings that would be used by these caravans to serve as a blockade to prevent them from coming across the border.”
After identifying potential sites where migrants might be able to bypass detection by authorities, razor wire is also being installed to deter entry.
Border Problem Felt by Communities Throughout State
As CBN News reported this past summer, the Republican governor has also set up a website to take private donations for the construction of the wall. As of Nov. 2, more than $54 million has been collected for the project.
“With an uptick in deadly drugs like fentanyl, dangerous gang activity, and human trafficking across our state, the State of Texas continues to work closely with local law enforcement to solve these challenges,” he said.”
“Texas’ unprecedented response to secure the border and combat the crisis would not be possible without local law enforcement partners here in West Texas and across the state, and we continue to ensure they have the resources needed to keep Texans safe,” the governor continued.
Border Security Ongoing Problem
While the Trump administration built about 450 miles of new barriers along the southern border, President Joe Biden immediately halted construction when he took office, leaving gaps that rendered most of the border wall incomplete.
Critics say Biden inherited a solution when he took office and canceled it, reviving the border crisis that was finally coming under control.
Officials stopped more than 1.7 million migrants on our southern border during the 2021 fiscal year, which ended in September, according to Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) data.
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