Less than a month after announcing he would be reinforcing the border along the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez sector with "triple-strand" razor wire, Texas governor Greg Abbott is now ordering the installation of additional razor wire at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass as part of the state´s Operation Lone Star.
The Texas National Guard took control earlier this year of the area along the Rio Grande River, which separates the U.S. from Mexico, after Abbott signed an emergency declaration to close the park citing the border crisis. The Texas National Guard also blocked U.S. Border Patrol agents from patrolling the area.
The governor made the announcement through his X account along with two pictures of officials installing the wire and a caption that reads: "Texas will continue to hold the line and bolster our border security efforts to protect Texans—and Americans—from the Biden-Harris border crisis."
Operation Lone Star engineers install more razor wire near Shelby Park.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 13, 2024
Texas will continue to hold the line and bolster our border security efforts to protect Texans—and Americans—from the Biden-Harris border crisis. pic.twitter.com/NSjwffboJY
Abbott, who began implementing Operation Lone Star in 2021, stated in another X post that the program has resulted in the apprehension of over 517,400 illegal immigrants and more than 45,900 arrests, along with more than 119,400 migrants transported to sanctuary cities.
However, the plan has faced harsh criticism from human rights organizations such as Border Servant Corps, which runs migrant shelters in El Paso and Las Cruces. They said their medical staff are seeing clients that "are reporting they're being pushed into the razor wire, being shot with pepper balls, which embed in the skin and irritate the skin, and having tear gas fired on them."
Abbott was also on the news recently for another order handed down by his administration, which directs hospitals in Texas to collect data on the immigration status of patients. This directive, he said, is aimed at understanding the costs associated with providing medical care to individuals living in the U.S. without legal authorization.
He also justified the order citing the financial burden Texas is facing "due to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' open border policies."
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