Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the creation of a Texas Tactical Border Force whose job will be to deal with the flood of illegal immigrants expected to arrive at the southern border after the expiration of Title 42 on May 11.
This new special security unit will be comprised of members of the National Guard specially trained to combat the migration crisis. They will be deployed starting Monday at "hotspots" to intercept, repel and turn back immigrants attempting to enter the country illegally.
We’re deploying the new Texas Tactical Border Force to border hotspots to repel illegal crossings.
These elite soldiers will fill in the gaps in preparation for Title 42 ending this week.
In Biden's absence, Texas continues taking unprecedented action to respond to this crisis. pic.twitter.com/Mgam014GCM
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) May 8, 2023
Measures to combat immigration crisis and criticism of the Biden administration
Among other measures to deal with the flood of illegal immigrants, Operation Lone Star officers and Texas National Guard engineers are "reinforcing razor wire barriers along the Texas-Mexico border."
Additional soldiers have been mobilized to support construction efforts. The reinforced razor wire barriers will create essential impediments to combat the unprecedented influx of illegal border crossings the end of Title 42 is expected to cause.
Abbott's plan also includes conducting drills to respond to an attempted mass influx of illegals. Major Sean Storrud, commander of Task Force West, indicated that they have been sending more soldiers to the border for months to combat the influx of migrants.
The Texas National Guard is a highly organized and efficient force. ... Although illegal immigration is absolutely a national problem that requires a national solution, the Texas National Guard is doing our part.
The governor stated that as many as 10,000 Texas National Guard officers were deployed as part of Operation Lone Star. He said President Joe Biden's plan to send 1,500 troops to the border "does nothing to stop illegal immigration." According to Abbott, most of these troops will be doing "paperwork" and will only be at the border for 90 days:
Biden says he will deploy 1,500 troops to the border — primarily to do paperwork. And only for 90 days.
This does nothing to stop illegal immigration.
I deployed up to 10,000 Texas National Guard to the border to fill the gaps created by Biden's reckless open border policies. pic.twitter.com/WkQMGf779e
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) May 2, 2023
Abbott said they need 15,000 to 150,000 troops to secure the border because of "Biden's reckless open border policies." He emphasized that the amount of soldiers deployed by the Biden administration is not enough.
What is title 42?
Title 42 is the public health order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2020 under former President Donald Trump. The measure was intended to stop the spread of COVID-19, as it prohibits the entry of people who "potentially pose a health risk."
The order allows authorities to remove immigrants who arrive at land borders to their last country of transit so they are not held in areas for processing.
In April 2022, the CDC stated that the order was no longer necessary due to the end of the COVID-19 health emergency and announced plans for its termination. However, the law will remain in effect until May 11, 2023.
According to official data, about 2.4 million immigrants have been removed since the order went into effect, most of them under the Biden administration.
Record-breaking migration crisis
Attempts by illegal immigrants to reach the country have increased in recent years to five times the numbers recorded in previous decades. Border authorities recorded around 1.6 million encounters in 2021. In 2022, that figure increased to 2.2 million.
So far in fiscal year 2023 alone, which spanned from October 2022 to February of this year, the authorities had already reported the arrest of more than 1 million illegal immigrants attempting to cross the border. This fact alerted border authorities, who predict that by the end of 2023 there could be more than 3 million immigrants in detention.
Preparing for "the unknown" in a "completely broken" immigration system
With the end of Title 42, between 11,000 and 16,000 immigrants are expected to arrive at the border each day. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimated this number at 13,000 immigrants per day.
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser projected the arrival of some 12,000 illegal immigrants per day, while declaring a state of emergency in the city as a way to prepare for "the unknown."
Chairman of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) Brandon Judd warned that "[The cartels] are going to be able to bring in all of their products such as the fentanyl, the dangerous drugs, the criminal aliens, and the aliens from special interest countries" and even stated that criminal gangs will take control of the entire southwest border.
More and more voices, including both Democratic and Republican governors and legislators, are calling on the Biden administration to take special measures to prevent the expected flood of illegals. Eleven GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the president requesting that he keep Title 42 in effect.
President Biden created this crisis, and his policies are making it worse. On Thurs, he will end Title 42—the most valuable tool available to secure the border.@HouseGOP is ready to act this week, even if the President will not. We will vote on H.R. 2—The Secure the Border Act. https://t.co/mbUqql9lBs
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) May 8, 2023
In the face of all this, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has avoided giving explanations and has justified this lack of action by asserting that the country's immigration system is "completely broken."
