Getty Images
Disclaimer: This article may contain the personal views and opinions of the author.
Title 42 is a U.S. law that was used as part of the 2020 COVID restrictions enacted under former President Trump.
It deals with “public health, social welfare, and civil rights.”
The policy allowed border patrol agents to turn people away at the border in an effort to keep communicable diseases out of the country, in this case, COVID-19.
President Biden vowed to reverse the policy once in office which signaled to the world that the border would be open.
He ultimately ended up keeping it in place because of the record number of migrants attempting to cross the border.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and his state have had to deal with the brunt of the Biden administration’s open border policy.
Today, the governor announced the formation of the Texas Tactical Border Force as the state prepares for the expiration of Title 42 on Thursday.
Abbott spoke at a press conference at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. In his statement, the Republican governor said that Texas has had to respond to “Joe Biden’s reckless border policies.”
The Texas National Guard is preparing for the surge at the border by sending Black Hawk helicopters and C-130s loaded with specially trained National Guard personnel to “hotspots along the border to intercept, to repel and to turn back migrants who are trying to enter Texas illegally.”
The Texas National Guard reports that it activated 545 additional service members at various locations around the state to “reinforce the border mission in anticipation of the end of Title 42 immigration restrictions.”
“These additional forces will bolster the thousands of Texas National Guard service members already assisting local and state law enforcement agencies to secure the border; stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons and people into Texas; and prevent, detect, and interdict transnational criminal behavior between the ports of entry,” the Texas National Guard said in a statement Monday.
“We have expanded our capabilities to include boat teams that patrol hundreds of river miles, drones and helicopters that detect illicit activity from the air, and brush teams, security points and roving patrols that block and interdict illegal smuggling (drugs, weapons and people) into Texas.”
Texas Border Czar Mike Banks, Texas National Guard Adjunct Gen. Thomas Suelzer, and Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw stood in solidarity with Governor Abbot as he made the announcement.
“President [Joe] Biden is laying down a welcome mat to people across the entire world saying that the United States border is wide open, and it will lead to an incredible amount of people coming across the border illegally,” Abbott said.
“President Biden’s open border policies are going to cause a catastrophic disaster in the United States,” he added.
“According to the Biden administration itself, they anticipate about 13,000 people coming across the border illegally every single day,” the governor continued.
“If you extend that out over the course of a year, it means it will be about 4,700,000 people coming across the border a year. That will mean there will be more people coming across the border illegally than there are residents of the massive city of Chicago.”
It will likely take more manpower than Texas can supply to get a grip on the massive problem at the southern border, unfortunately, but it’s a start.
