The Texas National Guard took full control of Eagle Pass after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an emergency declaration to close the park. This all quickly took place on January 11th, 2024. Eagle pass is a border-town along the Mexico-Texas border, and it is frequented by migrants hoping to get into America. This adds to the ongoing problem as illegal immigrants have seen a rise and then sudden drop off for the past 10 years.
Over the past several years, the Texas government has been cracking down on illegal immigration into its state. It is reported by Statista that Texas has not seen an increase of illegal immigration since 2019 where it was reported by Statista that Texas has an illegal immigrant population of 1.7 million. As of 2024 Texas now has that number at 1.6 million, per Statista. The decrease is partially due to the Texas government and the Governor Greg Abbott taking matters into his own hands, inflicting harsher punishments and longer jail time.
While the U.S . Government does call the shots for every state in the country, this may be called a lie in the eyes of Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas. Greg Abbott is a born, raised, and Texas-educated man, and has been the Governor since 2015. Abbott has seen stern criticism over the past almost 10 years and has been in some deep controversy, such as having six mass shootings whilst in office. Abbott has seen the constant support from Republicans but nothing short of hatred from the press. Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa issued the following statement per texasdemocrats, ”Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the placement of razor wire fencing along the Texas-New Mexico border north of the Rio Grande near Sunland Park, NM. This is the latest Operation Lone Star stunt funded by the working Texas family’s tax-dollar.”
Illegal immigration has long been a problem in the United States, the majority of illegal migrants come through Texas and California. However, recently, Governor Abbott has taken matters into his own hands, attempting to erect a 29 mile long razor wire to prevent migrants from crossing illegally. This wire has not yet been reported to have any effect. What was once a dispute over barbed wire quickly and suddenly turned into a fight over control of land at the Mexico-Texan border. John Kruzel reported, “On January 22nd, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to temporarily let the U.S. Border Patrol agents cut or remove razor-wire fencing that Texas officials placed along part of the Republican-governed state’s border with Mexico to deter illegal border crossings.”
