Greg Abbott Releases Plan for Border After Sudden Court Loss

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that his administration would continue to carry out measures to secure the southern border after suffering a blow in federal appeals court late Tuesday.

Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court gave the green light to allow Texas law enforcement to arrest migrants suspected of entering the country illegally, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals put the state bill back on hold pending Texas' appeal of a federal judge's ruling last month that blocked the measure from being implemented.

The law, Senate Bill 4, makes entering Texas illegally a state crime and allows state judges to order that migrants who violate the law be deported. Critics of the bill, including the Biden Administration and immigration advocates, say that the bill is unconstitutional and that authority to detain or deport migrants rests with the federal government.

Abbott said on X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday afternoon that while his administration will continue to uphold SB4, state law enforcement will continue to carry out border control measures that have been deemed controversial, including by continuing to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and using the Texas National Guard to implement razor wire and buoy barriers to "repel migrants."

The Republican added in his post that his state retains the ability to "arrest illegal immigrants for criminal trespass," and said that over 41,000 arrests have been made.

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.

In addition to suing Abbott's administration to strike down SB4, the White House has also fought Texas on its razor wire installations and other deter methods along the Riot Grande, arguing that the barriers impede federal agents' ability to patrol the southern border. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 vote in January that federal Border Patrol agents were allowed to cut down the wire as a lawsuit over the method continues in court.

Texas has also allocated roughly $1.28 billion to build its border wall under Abbott's Operation Lone Star and has added 12 miles of barriers as of September, according to state officials.

Abbott, who is close allies with former President Donald Trump, has been repeatedly critical of President Joe Biden's immigration policies, and several Republican-led states have deployed part of their own National Guard to help Texas patrol its southern border.

Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also denounced Abbott's immigration tactics, saying on Tuesday that its government would not accept any migrants that Texas sends across the border under SB4.