(Houston) Texas announced Friday the construction of a military base on the border with Mexico, a new example of the standoff between its governor and the federal state over the illegal entry of migrants, which has become a theme of the campaign presidential election in the United States.
The state’s Republican Governor Greg Abbott made the announcement in Eagle Pass, on the approximately 32-hectare land where the facility will be built. This will border the Rio Grande, a river serving as a border, and will be able to receive some 300 soldiers from the month of April.
“This will increase Texas’ military capabilities at Eagle Pass in order to act more effectively” against the flow of irregular migrants, assured the governor, specifying that it will ultimately be able to accommodate 1,800 soldiers.
PHOTO GO NAKAMURA, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Texas Governor Greg Abbott
Greg Abbott, supporter of ex-President Donald Trump, accuses the Biden administration of allowing an “invasion” of irregular migrants on the country’s southern border and of not acting against the criminal gangs who, according to him, control the border on the Mexican side.
Border control is a federal jurisdiction in the United States, but the Texas National Guard set up shop in a city park in Eagle Pass overlooking the river in January.
Governor Abbott also installed some 160 km of barbed wire along the Rio Grande, a measure that the Biden administration is challenging in court. The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily allowed the federal government to remove the barbed wire, but Texas has continued to install it as the dispute winds its way to a court decision on the merits.
“Having soldiers installed right next to the river will make it possible to build this barbed wire barrier more quickly,” Mr. Abbott said on Friday, praising the “effectiveness” of this device which, according to him, would have reduced the number of crossings. migrants from Mexico.
Texas also passed a law allowing its forces to arrest irregular migrants at the border, a skill normally within the jurisdiction of the federal administration. The courts are expected to decide the issue before the law comes into force in March.