Greg Abbott Defies Joe Biden With Pledge To Triple Razor Wire Defenses

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has defied President Joe Biden by pledging to triple razor wire defenses.

This came after Abbott vowed to defy a federal government agency that had instructed him to remove constructions from Fronton Island.

The move came as part of Abbott’s ongoing Operation Lone Star, which aims to prevent illegal border crossings. Abbott launched the operation in 2021, and as part of the program, Texas National Guard soldiers and law enforcement officers have constructed razor wire fencing and other barriers to make it harder to cross.

Abbott has had regular clashes with the Biden administration over the operation.

The Supreme Court ruled that federal agents could remove razor wire that had been installed across the border on his orders. The federal government instructed Texas to remove these constructions and argued that they violate treaties and federal law.

In response to the ruling, Abbott invoked the state’s “right to self-defense.”

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Abbott wrote: “Joe Biden and [Vice President] Kamala Harris have allowed more illegal immigrants to cross our southern border than ever before. Texas is fighting back. We are TRIPLING our razor wire border barriers to deny illegal entry into our state and our country.”

In another post, Abbott wrote: “Kamala tries to laugh her way out of owning any accountability for her border failures. But the open border is NOT a laughing matter. It’s a matter of life and death. Texas holds the line because Kamala refuses to.”

On September 9, Abbott sent a letter to Biden and Harris after the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission told the Texas General Land Office to restore Fronton Island to “pre-construction conditions.”

Posting on X, Abbott said: “Texas continues to secure Fronton Island from dangerous cartels—but Joe Biden and Kamala Harris don’t want that to happen. Sent a letter to them this week and called out their continued attempts to undercut Texas’ border security efforts.”

In his letter, Abbott said that “for years, the cartels were ‘running rampant’ in Fronton Island’s ‘thick vegetation’ and ‘bullet-pocked structures’ along the river to stage illegal entries, surveil state and federal law enforcement, stash weapons, plant explosives, evade apprehension, and engage in open warfare against rival cartels and against state and federal officers.”

Abbott’s comments come in the midst of the 2024 election race, one for which immigration is a key issue.

In March 2021, Biden said Harris had been given the job of addressing the “root cause,” of migration to the U.S. “She’s the most qualified person to do it.” In the three and a half years since, illegal immigration has soared, and Harris is continuing to face criticism about her work on the issue in her campaign for president.

Abbott’s Operation Lone Star has been slammed by human rights groups. There are allegations that migrants are being pushed into razor wire and fired at with pepper balls.

Newsweek has reached out to the press offices for Abbott and the White House via email for comment.

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