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In a special episode of Aguilar Opina, Alfonso Aguilar sat down exclusively with Republican Governor Greg Abbott of Texas to discuss the border crisis that, spurred by the Biden administration’s open borders policy, has led to an unprecedented flow of illegal migration, the consequences of which affect the country’s most vulnerable communities.
The situation on the southern border has multiple harmful effects on Americans. Not only is it a humanitarian crisis where thousands of people risk their lives every day to cross dangerous stretches (many with no luck), but much of the fentanyl that causes an overdose epidemic in youth easily enters through illegal border crossings.
The state of Texas is the hardest hit, particularly the border communities that daily receive thousands of illegal migrants. Democratic open border policies have left Gov. Greg Abbott’s hands tied. Unable to control the flow of migrants, the Republican has been forced to act using the tools provided by law in his capacity as local governor.
In an effort to get the attention of Democratic governors, Abbott has sent busloads of illegal immigrants to self-described sanctuary cities in blue states. The response from local authorities has been contradictory: they have declared a public emergency and relocated the migrants to different cities while branding Greg Abbott a racist.
From the governor’s point of view, that just shows the hypocrisy of the Democrats.
“There’s another way in which they show their hypocrisy. They say that they are sanctuary cities and that they welcome migrants from anywhere, but when we delivered a few hundred or a few thousand to them, they blew up, they called for disaster and emergency relief, and the National Guard, and they said they could not handle it,” Greg Abbott said. “So they talked to talk about being sanctuary cities, but when they were forced to do it, they suddenly pushed back and said they were incapable of doing it.”
The governor noted that the illegal immigration crisis also directly affects the immigration system and those who turn to legal means to migrate to the U.S.
“In just the past year alone, there have been more than 2 million people cross the border illegally,” the republican added. “That pushes back in line all those who are trying to come to the United States legally.”
Abbott held up Lori Lightfoot, mayor of Chicago, Illinois, who has publicly criticized him and even questioned his status as a Christian, as an example of Democratic hypocrisy.
“Lori Lightfoot, mayor of Chicago, shows her own hypocrisy yet again because she said that I wasn’t a Christian for providing a bus ride from Texas to Chicago of this migrants, but yet, just days later, she turned around and put them on a bus and bussed them out of Chicago, into different locations in Illinois,” Abbott noted. “he did herself what she was criticizing me for doing.”
Gregg Abbott points out Democrats’ “hypocrisy” and “inhumanity”
Texas’ leader also referred to the “inhumanity” of the Democrats’ own open border policies, considering that the roads illegal migrants must travel to reach the U.S. border are extremely dangerous. Dominated by Mexican cartels, these stretches have left thousands of migrants dead, women raped, children missing and entire families separated, facilitating human trafficking.
“And here’s a last piece of hypocrisy, and that is that democrats are just fine as long as the immigration challenges are on the border of Texas, but if it comes to their states, they’re up in arms,” Abbott said. “That’s what we’re trying to do: we’re trying to help them understand that this is not a Texas problem, this is a problem for the United States of America, and it’s up to the president of the United States of America to fix the chaos that he has caused.”
As part of his fight to address the immigration crisis, Greg Abbott issued an executive order on Wednesday, September 21, designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations. The governor considers it an “unprecedented measure” that had to be taken “at unprecedented times.”
He explained that since the cartels facilitate and benefit economically from both human and drug trafficking across the border, the “goal” of the measure is to arrest and punish criminals, dismantle trafficking routes and seize any property they may have in the state of Texas.
“We’re going to do everything we can to disrupt these cartels because of the dangers they pose here in Texas, as well as in the entire United States of America,” Greg Abbott commented.
Another harmful effect of the open border policy is the uncontrolled passage of potential terrorists into the U.S. According to CBP, Border Patrol has apprehended 78 individuals listed in the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) so far in 2022, triple the previous five fiscal years combined.
This record number of potential terrorists captured at the southern border also shows, according to Abbott, the irresponsibility and boldness of the Biden administration, national security is one of his main tasks as commander in chief. The danger, he points out, is not so much the number of potential terrorists who have been captured, but those who have managed to enter the country without facing the authorities.
“The president of the United States has allowed the importation into our country of people on the terrorist watchlist, that violates his oath of office to protect and secure his own country. The president is in reckless disregard of his responsibilities,” Abbott said.
In the midst of the largest immigration crisis in recent history, and despite numerous calls for attention from the TX governor, the Biden administration has not communicated directly with Abbott. Although it designated VP Kamala Harris as border czar, neither Biden nor Harris has personally visited the southern border crisis zone.
In that regard, Gov. Greg Abbott believes the Biden administration “really are blind to the dangers that they cause on the border and how open it is,” and believes both Biden and Harris should see it with their own eyes.
Watch the full interview through our YouTube channel, and follow us on El American’s social media to stay up to date.
Tomás Lugo, journalist and writer. Born in Venezuela and graduated in Social Communication. Has written for international media outlets. Currently living in Colombia // Tomás Lugo, periodista y articulista. Nacido en Venezuela y graduado en Comunicación Social. Ha escrito para medios internacionales. Actualmente reside en Colombia.