Greg Abbott Increases Razor Wire at Texas Border

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said more razor wire will be installed along the state's border with Mexico as he continues his standoff with President Joe Biden's administration over immigration enforcement.

"More National Guard & razor wire barriers are coming to the Texas border," Abbott wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.

"We' re-doubling our efforts to expand the areas where we are denying illegal entry into Texas. Illegal immigration is now going down in Texas while increasing in [California] & [Arizona]."

Newsweek has contacted Abbott's office for comment via email.

Texas installed rows of razor wire in Shelby Park, which has become one of the busiest locations for people attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally from Mexico. It is among several aggressive measures that Abbott has taken to deter migrants from crossing into the U.S. illegally.

Texas seized control of Shelby Park in January and began denying entry to Border Patrol agents, escalating the feud with the Biden administration. The Justice Department argued the wire impedes the government's ability to patrol the border and go to the aid of migrants in need of help.

More razor wire is being added even after the U.S. Supreme Court last month sided with the Biden administration and cleared the way for Border Patrol agents to cut or remove the wire.

Abbott remained defiant despite the court's ruling, saying Texas had a "constitutional right to self-defense."

At a press conference in Shelby Park on Thursday, Abbott said that Texas was looking to send more National Guard troops and increase the razor wire barriers.

"The tools and strategies that [the Texas Department of Public Safety] and the Texas Military Department use to secure the border would not happen without members of the Texas Legislature, like those with me here today," Abbott said.

"Working together, we will expand current operations in other parts of the border to decrease illegal immigration and ensure that we add more soldiers in the border region."

Days earlier, the governor made similar remarks as he visited the border with 12 other Republican governors.

At least a dozen Republican governors have sent state National Guard units to the border since 2021.

"Federal negligence enforcing immigration law and the failure to secure our country's border jeopardizes national and economic security, affecting every state, including #Indiana," Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb wrote on X on Friday after announcing he was deploying the Indiana National Guard to Texas.

It comes after the collapse of a border security deal that would have overhauled the asylum system to provide faster and tougher immigration enforcement, as well as allow the Department of Homeland Security to temporarily shut down the border to most migrants if there are an average of more than 5,000 crossing attempts per day over seven days.

Update 2/12/24, 3:47 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.