EL PASO, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned border sheriffs here Monday that they will face a “cataclysmic” number of migrants coming across the border beginning next month as he underscored his desire for a border wall and explained the use of charter buses to transport people who cross into Texas without documents to Washington, D.C.
Abbott, who has made securing the border his top campaign issue in his run for reelection, made his dire predictions at a meeting of the Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition here in El Paso. On May 23, the Biden administration is expected to lift Title 42, the Trump-era public health rule that uses the coronavirus pandemic to justify quickly expelling most migrants.
Abbott said border counties would be “overwhelmed” by the arrival of as many as 18,000 migrants a day based on projections from the Biden administration.
“What we’re going to be seeing, based on the prognostications of the Biden administration, is going to be cataclysmic in what happens in border regions,” Abbott said.
Sheriffs, many wearing white cowboy hats and jeans, gave the governor a standing ovation. But in interviews afterward, several sheriffs, Republicans and Democrats, questioned some of the details of Abbott’s plan and whether it is the best use of taxpayer money.
El Paso Sheriff Richard Wiles said, “My stance has always been that local law enforcement should not enforce immigration law. That’s a federal responsibility. I still stand by that policy.”
Pecos County Sheriff Thomas TJ Perkins, who reiterated several times he supports Abbott, said his county needs “more jail space” for people detained under Operation Lone Star, the series of policies implemented by Abbott to improve border security that have cost the state billions of dollars.
Abbott deployed 10,000 members of the Texas National Guard Department along with Texas Department of Public Safety officers to the border last year. Many migrants have been arrested on trespassing and other minor charges.
“We have a 42-bed facility but we’re so overcrowded we’re having to house outside our county,” he said. “They’re supposed to pick up the tab for any Lone Star arrests.”
Perkins said his county has applied for an “overflow grant” from the governor’s office.
“They’re going to pick up the tab, hopefully that’s what’s going to happen,” he said.
Last week, Abbott, a two-term Republican, announced the state would charter buses to voluntarily ship migrants from Texas to Washington, D.C. Abbott also said the state would step up safety inspections of commercial vehicles after they clear federal security checks at the border, a move that quickly generated criticism from leading Texas business owners. On Friday, many border crossings reported unusually long waiting times.
Abbott also wants the state to resume construction of a border wall to support his efforts to secure the border.
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