'Great work.' Greg Abbott praises Texas soldiers, troopers seen turning migrants away in video

Nate Chute, Austin American-Statesman
·2 min read
659
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday praised the work of the Texas National Guard and Department of Public Safety at the Texas-Mexico border, sharing a video that showed soldiers and troopers turning migrants away from the other side of razor wire.

Abbott made the post on his personal Twitter account, sharing a Fox News correspondent's tweet that showcased video by Todd Bensman, a fellow at a conservative Washington D.C.-based think tank. It was filmed at the border between Matamoros and Brownsville.

The Southern Poverty Law Center classifies the organization, which carries the name "Center for Immigration Studies," as a hate group due to its "circulation of white nationalist and antisemitic writers," noting the policy institute's reports have been criticized and often debunked as untrue by others.

Abbott deployed a Tactical Border Force to South Texas on Monday and criticized Biden in his Wednesday tweet, suggesting the president sent "1,500 troops to the border to do paperwork," while he sent in people who are taking "real action."

The White House announced last week that the troops would be assisting with administrative tasks to help "free up Border Patrol agents to perform their critical law enforcement duties," spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.

End of Title 42 addressed by DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Border Patrol Commissioner Troy Miller

During a border tour in Brownsville on Friday, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas rejected Abbott's assertion that Biden has operated an open-borders approach to unlawful migration and vowed to promptly expel those caught unlawfully coming into the United States.

"The border is not open, it has not been open, and it will not be open subsequent to May 11," Mayorkas said. "And the smugglers who exploit vulnerable migrants are spreading misinformation. They are spreading false information, lies, in a way to lure vulnerable people to the southern border, and those individuals will only be returned."

The move comes as a surge of migrants is expected at the border when Title 42 expires Thursday.

On Wednesday, Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Troy Miller issued a statement saying his agency is bracing itself, and notes entering the U.S. without proper documentation remains illegal.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Video shows migrants turned away at border by Texas soldiers, troopers