Donald Trump thanked Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick for defying the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to temporarily bar the use of razor wire at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The former president and 2024 Republican front-runner spent a large portion of his speech at Saturday's "Nevada Commit to Caucus Rally" in Las Vegas talking about the southern border.
The Context
Trump's comments come amid an ongoing dispute over the border crisis. On Monday, the Court sided with the Biden administration in a 5-4 ruling, allowing U.S. Border Patrol agents to temporarily remove the razor wire that Texas officials put up under Abbott's orders while litigation over the issue proceeds. Abbott issued a statement on Wednesday, declaring Texas' "right to self-defense." He also posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Monday, and wrote "this is not over" and called the razor wire "an effective deterrent."
On Saturday in Las Vegas, Trump called the southern border a "weapon of mass destruction," and said, if reelected, he would "send reinforcements" to Texas where the state would receive his "full support."
He also claimed that he didn't have to spotlight the border when he ran against Joe Biden in 2020 because "we had the safest border in U.S. history."
What We Know
As the United States faces a surge in illegal border crossings, Abbott has tried to fend migrants off, using razor wire along parts of the southern border and a circular saw floating barrier in the Rio Grande river.
The Biden administration, meanwhile, has called these tactics "dangerous" and "cruel," and says the wire prevents agents from gaining access to key parts of the border.
Some Texas Democrats including former Representative Beto O'Rourke and Representative Joaquin Castro have urged Biden to federalize the National Guard if Abbott defies the Court's order.
Trump's statements on Saturday come as Biden continues to press Congress to embrace a bipartisan Senate deal to pair border enforcement measures, along with aid to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.
JUST IN - Trump in Las Vegas: “When I’m president, instead of trying to send Texas a restraining order, I will send them REINFORCEMENTS.”
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) January 27, 2024
pic.twitter.com/n6bzA7q5D0
Views
While experts may disagree with Abbott's approach, they agree that solving the issue at the southern border will require complex solutions.
Agustina Vergara Cid, a Young Voices contributor focusing on immigration policy, wrote for Newsweek in an opinion column last week:
"Increasing legal immigration and creating more legal pathways for peaceful, hard-working migrants to come to America is the only way to solve the border crisis for good. One strategy for doing that is to allow for more employer sponsorship, getting rid of caps on work visas and letting the market dictate how many migrant workers it can take.
More broadly, the U.S. immigration system should be rethought and redesigned to focus on deterring actual threats to the safety and rights of Americans, not economic migrants."
Nicole Russell, an opinion columnist, said the border crisis demands stronger federal enforcement in a Newsweek column last week:
"Since Abbott launched Operation Lone Star—an effort to deploy as many resources as possible to secure the border and stop illegal migrant crossings—Texas has seen almost 500,000 apprehensions of illegal migrants. Law enforcement agencies have made 38,300 criminal arrests and seized over 453 million lethal doses of fentanyl.
As any good law enforcement officer or criminal attorney knows, instances of prevented crime and people who haven't died from fentanyl poisoning don't make the news—only the tragic events do. So while media outlets or Democratic politicians fail to acknowledge over 38,000 criminal arrests, three migrant deaths are reported and condemned immediately."
What's Next?
Arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico reached an all-time high in December, according to the Associated Press.
The Border Patrol tallied 249,785 arrests on the Mexican border in December, up 31 percent from 191,112 in November and up 13 percent from 222,018 in December 2022, the previous all-time high.
Meanwhile, congressional Republicans say they will only accept aid money for Ukraine if it's coupled with tougher U.S. immigration policies.
According PunchBowl News and CNN, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is alleged to have said that discussions around securing the border have flipped for the Republicans and that the party should not do anything that may "undermine" Trump.
On Saturday, Trump repeated claims that he will conduct the "largest deportation mission in history" if reelected in November.
In a statement released Friday night, Biden said what's being negotiated in the Senate would be "the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we've ever had in our country."
"[The compromise] would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law," Biden's statement said.
Update 1/27/24, 6:58 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Update 1/27/24, 6:15 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Gabe Whisnant is Deputy Weekend Editor at Newsweek based in South Carolina. Prior to joining Newsweek in 2023, he directed ... Read more
