Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick warned on Friday that President Joe Biden is approaching treason over the U.S.-Mexico border as an influx of migrants continue to cross into the country.
Tension between federal and state units in Texas remains after the Biden administration secured a significant win over Texas Governor Greg Abbott in late January after the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to allow the temporary removal of razor wire along the southern border while litigation over the issue proceeds.The Court’s decision has sparked anger among Republicans who support the measures taken by Abbott and his administration to fight illegal immigration in the state. Additionally, tensions over the measures escalated as the federal government raised environmental and humanitarian concerns about the deterrent.
Abbott, an outspoken critic of Biden over immigration issues, has vowed that the fight “is not over” and also issued a statement declaring Texas’ “right to self-defense.” Texas has continued to use razor wire as a barrier between the Rio Grande River and Shelby Park, a 47-acre area in Eagle Pass, which has become one of the busiest locations for people attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally from Mexico.
This comes as there were more than 2.4 million migrant encounters at the southern border during the 2023 fiscal year, up from roughly 1.7 million in 2021, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.
In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Patrick took aim at Biden for his policies regarding the border, adding that the president may be approaching “treason.”
“Treason is a hard word to define and call someone and I’m not suggesting the president is accused of treason at this point, but gosh, you’re coming up to the line when you say that we’re going to let thousands, 24,000, 30,000 Chinese men of military age to come through our border and be somewhere in our country and we don’t know. And people from the Middle East on the terrorist watch list. I mean, what sound mind in the White House would ever allow our country to be invaded?” Patrick asked.
Patrick’s comments come as the number of Chinese nationals encountered at borders across the U.S. has continued to increase in recent months, according to data from the CBP. In December, there were over 5,000 encounters of Chinese national migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The lieutenant governor continued by explaining that Senate Bill 4, a new law would give state and local law enforcement the authority to apprehend and prosecute migrants believed to have entered the U.S. illegally, would allow “us to take care of our border.”
Abbott signed the law on December 18, and it is expected to take effect on March 5.
Meanwhile, Biden has signaled that he’s open to “massive changes” on border policy, asking Congress to embrace a bipartisan Senate deal that would pair border enforcement measures with aid to Ukraine to help in its ongoing war with Russia
However, the GOP-led House struck down the bipartisan border security bill in the Senate earlier this month, as conservative hardliners argue the bill does not go far enough to end illegal immigration into the U.S. At least 60 “yes” votes were required to advance the bill to the House, where House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, had already declared the legislation “dead on arrival.”
The $118 billion deal would address key concerns at the southern border, increasing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention capacity from 34,000 to 50,000 and allocating $20 billion to immigration enforcement. The proposal would also overhaul the asylum system with faster and tougher enforcement, as well as allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to temporarily shut down the border to most migrants if there are an average of more than 5,000 crossing attempts per day over seven days.
