CBN News Chief Political Analyst David Brody sat down with Texas Governor Greg Abbott for an exclusive interview. The governor of the Lone Star State is addressing the border crisis that has wracked his state as millions of migrants have illegally crossed into the U.S. from Mexico.
The saying goes, "Everything is bigger in Texas." Well, that includes the fight over illegal immigration too. Governor Greg Abbott has a battle on his hands: not just at the border but in Washington, D.C.
"Joe Biden has a requirement under the Constitution to secure our national security," Governor Abbott tells CBN News. "He's utterly failed at that."
Abbott is taking matters into his own hands. That includes building a wall in a number of border counties and busing illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities. In addition, his Operation Lone Star program has led to a half-million illegal immigrant apprehensions and the seizure of almost 500 million lethal doses of fentanyl.
"Illegal immigration has gone down in the state of Texas by 72%," Abbott says. "At that very same time, it has increased in California, Arizona, and New Mexico by 24% so it shows that what we're doing is working."
The Biden administration says Texas has overstepped its authority, especially by installing razor wire in Eagle Pass or floating barriers in the Rio Grande River. Of course, at the center of the illegal immigration fight in Texas is a law backed by Governor Abbott giving state law enforcement agencies the power to arrest illegal immigrants. The Biden administration is fighting the move and it's likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
While that case works its way through the legal system, tension mounts between the state of Texas and the feds. Is Abbott concerned about skirmishes breaking out between Texas law enforcement and the federal government if Biden gets another term?
"Let's say I'm resolute about what Texas is doing," Governor Abbott tells CBN News. "Our goal is to make sure that we defend our border, to the point where we are able to completely reduce illegal crossings into the state of Texas."
But does that mean going into Mexico? Certain Republicans like former President Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have floated the idea of crossing the border to carry out attacks on drug cartels. In the case of Governor Abbott, he officially called this an "Invasion." According to Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, that means a state can engage in war if an invasion happens.
Some have asked whether the effort to take down the drug cartels could include actions inside Mexico in some form or fashion. "I've already declared the drug cartels as terrorist organizations," Abbott says. "And that authorizes law enforcement to take extra action against it. You can have a war without actually invading a country. The war would not be against Mexico."
JUST IN: Texas Governor Greg Abbott says, despite an illegal immigrant invasion at the border, he's not planning to invade Mexico to break up the drug cartels: "You can you can have a war without actually invading a country. The war would not be against Mexico." Watch my… pic.twitter.com/rVmYOA6w39
— David Brody (@DBrodyReports) April 16, 2024
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Rather, Abbott sees the war taking place right here on the homeland. One of his biggest and gravest concerns is those from the Middle East coming over who are on the terror watch list. Some of them are known, but many are not.
And just as much of a concern to Abbott are Chinese men of military age illegally entering the country. "Last year, there were more than 24,000," Abbott explains. "In the first part of this fiscal year, there's already another 22,000 and so there's basically a Chinese military equivalent in the United States of America. No one knows what these people are up to."
There are also families seeking asylum and a better life here in America, desperate to get away from horrible conditions. Some people will say you need to have compassion for those families but Abbott questions what is really true compassion.
"Well, chaos obviously is not compassionate, right," Abbott tells CBN News. "But also what is not compassionate is the federal government of the United States, enticing women, children, and others, to be sexually assaulted by the drug cartels, physically abused, sometimes murdered by them, or enticing them into a situation where they drowned trying to cross the river...There's nothing compassionate about a deadly border. There is something compassionate, however, about order in society. And what Texas is trying to achieve is order in our society."
In the meantime, Abbott's battle against the federal government rages on.
Be sure to tune into Tuesday's 700 Club for our exclusive report. You can watch it on the CBN News Channel – where The 700 Club is available several times each day. Or go to WatchCBNNews.com to see all the ways you can watch the CBN News Channel – including on the CBN News App and the CBN News YouTube Channel.
MARCH 2024 Whiplash on the Southern Border as Supreme Court Rules for Texas, Then Appeals Court Defies It
BELOW: CBN Reporter Paul Petitte recently went to Eagle Pass, Texas to report on the ongoing border crisis there including the convoy that converged there at the beginning of this year. He explains why Gov. Abbott's efforts have caused the migrant crossings to plummet in Texas while they've surged in Arizona and California.
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