Texas Governor Greg Abbott participated in a roundtable discussion on the border crisis Tuesday in the Rio Grande Valley. He warned illegal immigrants not to try to cross into the United States through Texas. And he addressed the fact that he is not satisfied with the penalties for smugglers. Smugglers are often recruited through social media postings to drive illegal immigrants to cities that are located hours from the border.

“If you’re coming toward the United States of America and you’re thinking about crossing our border, and you’re thinking about making your border crossing into the state of Texas, you’re picking the wrong state to enter into,” the governor said. “We’re going to do everything we can to keep you out of our border, to keep you out of our country.”

One change Abbott is talking about making is to put in place a 10-year minimum jail sentence for anyone who smuggles illegal immigrants into the U.S. in Texas.

During the roundtable discussion, Abbott noted that just three years ago, the number of border crossings in Texas was the lowest in decades. He credited Trump’s actions. Trump put a stop to catch and release, he implemented Title 42 at the recommendation of the CDC, he began to build a border wall, and he encouraged immigrants to come to the United States legally, not illegally. Contrast that with Biden’s actions and you understand how he created a border crisis. Biden did away with the programs and agreements that worked to secure the southern border. He also all but gave migrants open invitations to try to cross the border, legally or not. He told everyone to come and they listened. Biden thought it was some grand gesture of humanitarian support but the reality is that the Biden border crisis is a humanitarian crisis as well as a national security crisis.

The governor pointed to statistics from the second week of February, starting in 2020. He said during the week of Feb. 12, 2020, there were 3,985 illegal immigrants apprehended at the Texas border. The same week in 2021, Abbott said, there were 13,672 illegal immigrants apprehended, then in 2022 that week, there were 21,560.

Abbott did not hold back any verbal punches at the current sitting president’s border policy, which forced the state to implement its own way to address the number of illegal immigrants entering the country through Texas.

Border states have been left to fend for themselves. Texas has the greatest burden because of its long border with Mexico. Abbott deployed the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to the border to push back on the flow of illegal immigrants crossing over. Abbott reported that more than 25,000 of the most dangerous criminals have been arrested. More than 330,000 gotaways have been apprehended. That level of success is laudable but the crisis continues to grow, thanks to the Biden administration’s refusal to do the work that must be done. Biden turns a blind eye to what is happening, he refuses to travel to the Rio Grande Valley (the epicenter of the Biden border crisis), and his administration ignores pleas for more resources for border states.

Biden’s open southern border has created the fentanyl crisis which is responsible for thousands of deaths of young people. Drug cartels control portions of the border, making millions of dollars off of the suffering of American families.

Had the Texas DPS not been in place, the governor speculated, there would have been hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants posing harm to the country, whether through crime or the pushing of drugs like fentanyl.

Texas DPS chief Steve McCraw said on Tuesday that his team seized over 19 tons of fentanyl, and he added that the fentanyl of today is not what it was in the past. These days, he explained, the deadly drug is not cooked in a hotel room, but instead in factories using chemicals from China that facilitate the manufacturing of pure fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Governor Abbott appointed a Texas Border Czar, Mike Banks, who is a retired Border Patrol agent. The Biden administration’s border czar, Kamala Harris, has been useless, so Abbott acted. Banks said it is easy to measure the number of drugs coming into the country when they come through legal ports of entry but tough to measure when the drugs are brought in by gotaways. The goal is to make Texas the least desirable state for illegal immigrants to enter.

The few tools available to Texas and other border states are being eliminated by the Biden administration. Aerial balloons are effective in monitoring the border but now Biden is shooting them down, Abbott said. The Biden administration is removing the balloons from the border. The number is being reduced from 12 to four. As far as Title 42 goes, it will likely sunset in May. When that happens, Texas officials expect up to 18,000 illegal crossings a day, which adds up to more than 6 million a year.

The Biden administration has been trying to end Title 42 but that has been blocked by a federal court order. The Supreme Court was to take up the case but last week it announced the case has been dropped from its calendar. There was no explanation for that decision. The Biden administration said that could be a moot point since Title 42 will end when the COVID-19 public health emergency ends in May.

There is only so much Governor Abbott can do but he’s to be applauded for doing all he can to try to protect his state. Increasing fines and threatening jail time for illegal immigrants haven’t stopped the crisis so far. We’ll see what Abbott can do during the current Texas Legislature session.