AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott is again pushing for greater force on the Texas-Mexico border with the release of another letter on the subject Wednesday morning.
In the latest effort, Abbott directed the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Military Department to expand their efforts to address illegal immigration.
The letter orders the leaders of the two agencies to use “all resources and tools available to repel immigrants from attempting to cross illegally.” It was sent to Steve McCraw, director of the Department of Public Safety, and Thomas Suelzer, the adjutant general of the Texas Military Department.
Abbott also told the agencies to do what is necessary to arrest those who cross the border illegally and return them to the border, but stopped short of listing any specifics on how that should be done.
The letter was released a day after the Senate Committee on Border Security met for a final time before the start of the next legislative session. The committee discussed the state’s military mission to tamp down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking, known as Operation Lone Star.
While the meeting took place, the governor’s office tweeted that Abbott had declared an “invasion” along the Texas-Mexico border. It was in reference to the same declaration Abbott made in July, which he used to direct DPS and the National Guard to return undocumented migrants to the border.
The Tuesday tweet was not a new declaration, nor did it outline any new policies, but it did provoke lawmakers to question the impact of the declaration.
While providing testimony, McCraw said the declaration did not change much as far as the agency’s guiding principles. But he voiced concerns that if Texas did not invest in methods such as a fingerprinting process, returning migrants to the border would do little to dissuade them from attempting to cross again.
“Our concern about that is that it probably would create a Texas catch-and-release program … where we’re sending them back, you know, 5 o’clock one day, (and) we may not catch them the next day,” McCraw said.