Abbott unveils plans to build a National Guard base camp near the Rio Grande

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) unveiled plans Friday to build a National Guard base camp near the Rio Grande that could house up to 1,800 troops in Eagle Pass, Texas.

“We are building a new Texas Military Department base camp that allows the Texas National Guard to increase and to improve operations in this area,” Abbott said Friday during a press conference in the border city.

“This will increase the ability for a larger number of Texas Military Department soldiers in Eagle Pass to operate more effectively and efficiently,” he added. “Before now, the Texas National Guard had been scattered across this entire region in cramped quarters, away from fellow soldiers, and sometimes traveling long distances to do their job. This base camp is going to dramatically improve conditions for our soldiers.”

According to Friday’s press release, the Texas Military Department acquired 80 acres of land in Eagle Pass “to construct a Forward Operating Base” housing 1,800 soldiers, “with the ability to accommodate an additional 500, who are deployed to respond to the open border chaos created by the Biden Administration.“

The construction process will include the addition of 300 beds every 30 days, with the first phase expected to be completed by April, said Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer, the head of the Texas Military Department, The Associated Press reported. It will also include three command posts, weapons storage rooms and a helicopter pad, per the AP.

The announcement comes amid a recent standoff between the Biden administration and Abbott over handling of the southern border and migrant crisis. The Texas National Guard appeared to disregard a recent Supreme Court decision allowing federal border agents to remove razor wire along the river between the U.S. and Mexico, and continued building the barriers.

“Texas would not be able to respond to President Biden’s border crisis without the brave men and women of the Texas National Guard, and it is essential to build this base camp for them,” Abbott said.

Abbott’s announcement also comes after the failure of a bipartisan border deal in Congress a week ago, which former President Trump, whom the governor endorsed for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination in November, strongly opposed.

“Only a fool, or a Radical Left Democrat, would vote for this horrendous Border Bill, which only gives Shutdown Authority after 5000 Encounters a day, when we already have the right to CLOSE THE BORDER NOW, which must be done,” Trump wrote on Truth Social quickly after the bill’s release.

“This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for The Republican Party,” the former president added. “It takes the HORRIBLE JOB the Democrats have done on Immigration and the Border, absolves them, and puts it all squarely on the shoulders of Republicans.”

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