In a series of executive orders Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to cooperate with President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts and directed the state’s criminal justice agency to identify land and facilities that could be used for detaining and deporting undocumented migrants.
The move comes just days after federal agents launched immigration operations on Sunday in Texas cities including Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio. Since Trump returned to office earlier this month, Abbott has pledged to cooperate with the new president’s efforts to curb illegal border crossings and remove undocumented immigrants from the country.
Abbott said he ordered state agencies to work with the Trump administration to “investigate, arrest, detain, and deport illegal immigrants in Texas.” The orders also direct state agencies to assist federal agents in securing the U.S.-Mexico border, share intelligence information on drug cartels with federal law enforcement and work with the federal government to “deploy any physical infrastructure to improve operational security at the southern border.”
"For the past four years, Texas has worked around-the-clock to defend our southern border while former President Joe Biden refused to protect our country from an invasion he allowed," Abbott said in a Wednesday release. "Now, we have a Commander-in-Chief in the White House who will do what is necessary to protect Americans.”
Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump promised to launch the “largest deportation program” in U.S. history by using the military and working with local law enforcement agencies. Trump sent some troops to the border shortly after taking office and Abbott deployed more than 400 Texas National Guard troops to the border Monday.
Abbott launched a border security initiative dubbed Operation Lone Star in 2021 shortly after Biden took office and sent state troopers and National Guard members to the border to address a rise in border crossings he blamed on the Biden administration. Texas has spent more than $11 billion on the effort so far; last week Abbott asked for a full reimbursement from the federal government.
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