A new border wall? Texas installs fencing along New Mexico border
- Abbott said migrants are entering in New Mexico and crossing to Texas
- Texas National Guard seen installing razor wire to fencing
- The move is part of Abbott's Operation Lone Star border initiative
(NewsNation) — Texas is expanding border security with new fencing. But the latest construction isn’t along the southern border, but along the state’s border with New Mexico.
Texas National Guard members were seen installing razor wire along the Rio Grande River north of El Paso, Texas. The area around El Paso is fortified with fencing and wire as the city continues to grapple with an influx of migrants.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Gov. Greg Abbott announced he had ordered the action.
“Migrants are entering New Mexico illegally then crossing into Texas,” he wrote.
Abbott’s border initiative, dubbed Operation Lone Star, has also included empty shipping containers along the border with Mexico and creating a barrier made of floating buoys. The state is currently in court after the Biden administration sued over the floating barrier.
Texas has also sent 50,000 migrants to sanctuary cities, including New York and Chicago, which are struggling to deal with the number of people sent from border states.
Recently, President Joe Biden announced construction of new barriers on the southern border in Texas, going back on a campaign promise that no more border wall construction would happen under his administration.