Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents seize a stash house in Rio Bravo, Texas, on Jan. 20, 2021. (Courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection)
The Texas attorney general said Sunday (Feb. 7) that the executive orders on immigration that President Biden has signed since taking office “disregard” federal law and pose a “tremendous risk” to the state. Arizona sheriff’s officials also said the situation at the U.S. southern border is deteriorating.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in an interview with Fox News that Biden “lost control” and “overstepped his authority” when he signed the executive order, which is intended to overturn the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Paxton said the Democrats control the House and Senate, so he could make those changes. But his actions ignore federal law.
Biden signed three more executive orders Tuesday proposing changes to immigration policy, including the creation of a task force to promote the reunification of immigrants separated from Family members at the border and a review of Trump-era legal immigration policies that will be conducted.
“I’m not making new laws, I’m eliminating bad policies,” Biden said at the Time in the Oval Office of the White House.
Biden earlier signed multiple executive orders revoking Trump-era travel restrictions on countries deemed to be security risks and suspending deportations of illegal immigrants for 100 days.
In response to Biden’s deportation moratorium, Texas has filed suit, and several other states have followed suit. Paxton said Biden’s executive order has effectively sent the message that open U.S. borders are the way to go. That poses a risk to his state.
Texas has been dealing with human trafficking, drug smuggling and gangs at the border, he said, adding that Biden’s order will only increase the cost of law enforcement, Education and health services in the state.
Paxton said, “This is an unfunded mandate for my state, and it’s really hard for us to assess what it will ultimately cost us.”
Arizona: The situation at the U.S. southern border is worsening
Matthew Thomas, deputy chief of police in Pinal County, Arizona, said the situation along the U.S. southern border is worsening.
Map showing the Pinal County, Arizona border, the U.S. border with Mexico and major highways in south-central Arizona. (Epoch Times photo)
Thomas gave a town hall update on the border portion of his district, particularly as it relates to the change of administration and its policy changes.
Thomas showed reporters the trail of people who have recently crossed the border into the United States illegally.
Pinal County is about a 90-minute drive from Mexico. Thomas said the border crisis will begin to re-emerge around the end of 2020 as traffickers and drug cartels look to President Biden to take a “hands-off” approach to the border situation.
“When (Trump) took office, we saw this area here completely dead. No one was moving, no one was smuggling because (Mexican drug lords) knew Trump was going to be all over it and they were going to be intercepted, so it just came to a screeching halt.” Thomas said.
Thomas said that since Biden ordered a halt to construction of the southern border wall, it has created more problems for Pinal County, which has no physical barrier, prompting criminals to ship drugs or traffic people to the United States.
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