Texas Gov. Greg Abbott assigned National Guard troops on Monday to a newly created state border patrol and ordered them to “repel” illegal immigrants who are expected to stream into the U.S. in unprecedented numbers in the coming weeks.
The Republican governor said the border is about to become “a catastrophic disaster” when President Biden ends the pandemic emergency on Thursday and relinquishes the Title 42 powers that had helped keep a lid on the chaos.
Mr. Abbott said he’s doing what he can to try to fight back, including plans to revive his busing campaign to ship migrants out of Texas and into Democratic-led cities. He promised “many thousands” of people will be moved “in the coming days.”
He spoke from an airfield in Austin where National Guard troops were loading into helicopters behind him. He said they have been specially trained to serve on his Tactical Border Force.
“They will be deployed to hot spots along the border to intercept, to repel and to turn back migrants who are trying to enter Texas illegally,” Mr. Abbott said.
He said they’ll have equipment including riot gear to be ready for whatever they encounter.
SEE ALSO: Homeland Security bused migrants away to hide border chaos
Mr. Abbott also threw his support behind efforts in the Texas Legislature to boost state penalties against illegal border crossers. One would make it a felony to illegally enter Texas from Mexico. Another would impose a 10-year minimum prison sentence for human smugglers.
Texas has been hit the hardest by the border chaos under Mr. Biden, and it expects to be the most affected when the Title 42 expulsion power ends this week.
The Department of Homeland Security has said it expects up to 13,000 people a day, or roughly twice the rate that came in March. That would shatter the already high record numbers that have streamed in during the last two years of the Biden administration.
Federal officials insist they are prepared for the increase. The Pentagon is deploying 1,500 active-duty soldiers and Marines to the border to help Homeland Security.
But Mr. Abbott said the federal troops will only be “doing paperwork” — things like processing illegal immigrants for catch-and-release — not to get on the front lines and turn people back.
He said Mr. Biden doesn’t want to stop illegal immigration but rather wants to reshape how it’s done, pushing people away from sneaking across the boundary and instead asking them to make appointments so they can be admitted, albeit still here without a legal presence.
SEE ALSO: Illegal immigration already surging even before end of Title 42
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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