McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plans to unveil what his staff is calling a “new border security strategy” on Thursday at a ranch outside Eagle Pass, Texas.
Abbott is scheduled to hold an afternoon news conference to announce new plans “to deter migrants from making the dangerous journey to illegally cross the border into Texas.”
Texas Border Czar Mike Banks is scheduled to join the governor, along with Department of Public Safety Director Freeman Martin, Adjutant General of Texas Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer, and Rose Luna, CEO of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault.
Abbott, a Republican, has long been critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the thousands of immigrants who have crossed the border from Mexico into Texas and claimed asylum in the United States.
Two months after President Biden took office in 2021, Abbott went to Mission, Texas, where he announced the state would launch Operation Lone Star — it’s own state-funded border security initiative.
Texas has spent over $11 billion since then on Texas Department of Public Safety troopers stationed at the border, along with Texas National Guard troops, and has built miles of state-funded border wall — much of it in South Texas.
The state is building a new operating base in Eagle Pass to hold up to 2,300 National Guard troops at a cost of over $131 million.
It’s unclear what Thursday’s new border initiative will entail but it comes as the Texas Legislature prepares to convene in January, and as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take over the White House for a second term starting Jan. 20.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.