Border crisis continues to worsen Texas governor calls for restoration of Trump immigration policy

On Sunday, April 11, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) slammed the Biden administration’s response to the surge of illegal border crossers, calling on the administration to revert to former President Trump’s (R) immigration policy as the most effective way to curb the influx of illegal immigrants at the border.

“The Biden administration has adopted policies that continue to make this problem worse,” Abbott said on “Fox News Sunday,” adding that “what the president could do is immediately put the ‘Stay in Mexico’ agreement that was put in place by the previous administration back in place. He can continue to build the border wall in south Texas, and he can make a stronger noise about telling people not to come here.”

After taking office, Biden quickly reversed Trump’s immigration policies, including the “Stay in Mexico” program. The program forces immigrants to wait in their home countries for their asylum cases, which are handled by the courts. This policy has effectively curbed the influx of illegal border crossers, ended the problematic “catch and release” practice, and significantly reduced the number of illegal immigrants at the southern border.

In a return to the Obama-era “catch and release” policy, the Biden administration released unaccompanied minors into the country. Republicans argue that this policy has given the green light to illegal immigration.

“That’s why so many people are coming here. If you go back to the Democratic presidential debates, every candidate said that if they were elected, they would open the borders, they would give free supplies to anyone who crossed the border,” Abbott said. He believes Biden is making good on his vow.

“That’s exactly why we’re seeing the flood (of illegal immigrants), and the Biden administration is simply not prepared …… for the flood (of illegal immigrants) that they’re responding to so hastily,” Abbott said, “and that’s why we’re seeing the For these kids, adults, and especially for Texas, (Biden’s immigration policies) have created a serious crisis and it’s only going to get worse.”

Figures released last week by U.S. Customs and Border Protection show that Border Patrol intercepted 172,000 illegal border crossers in March, a 71 percent increase from February, including 18,890 unaccompanied children from Central America, double the number of 9,297 in February.

Faced with the border crisis, Biden administration officials tried to place the blame on former President Trump. Troy Miller, acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said he does not believe the surge in illegal immigration is a new crisis caused by Biden’s policies.

But Brandon Judd, chairman of the National Border Patrol Council, said at a recent roundtable with Republican members of Congress, Texas landowners and law enforcement that the number of illegal border crossings seen in recent weeks is “the fastest growth we’ve seen in the history of border patrol. He added, “This surge is unlike any increase we’ve ever seen before.”

Other Republicans also called on Biden to restore Trump’s immigration policies to address the growing border crisis.