Texas implements new efforts on the border as Abbott warns of 'potential mass migration'

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- Migrant crossings along the Texas border are at their lowest level in years, a dip achieved through seasonal trends, federal executive action and the state's Operation Lone Star -- but state leaders are not pulling back from the border yet.

"We're not letting up at all," Gov. Greg Abbott told Fox News' Sean Hannity Tuesday night. "We have to get them out of our country as quickly as possible, but we have to multitask... we have to at the same time ensure that we are building the barriers and denying the illegal entry into our country."

On Wednesday, Abbott shared video of additional buoy barriers the state is placing in the Rio Grande River. A thousand feet of bright-orange balls have cut through the river in Eagle Pass for more than a year, designed to deter and redirect migrants considering walking across the shallow water.

Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham also announced her office is offering a 1,400-acre plot of land in Starr County to the Trump administration. She says it would be an ideal spot for a deportation facility.

"I am 100 percent on board with the Trump administration's pledge to get these criminals out of our country, and we are more than happy to offer our resources to facilitate deportations of these violent criminals," Buckingham said. "We're happy to make this offer and hope they take us up on it."

Buckingham described the plot as "essentially farmland," and "easy to build on." Her office did not specify how much the state paid to acquire it.

Last week, Abbott shared images of Texas troops conducting training exercises in preparation for what he calls "potential mass migration." DHS reportedly considered the possibility that migrants may try to cross the border before President-elect Trump takes office. There has been no extraordinary surge reported at this point.

The Texas legislature is also preparing to take state border enforcement even further. State Sen. Bob Hall, for example, has filed bills to establish the "Texas Department of Homeland Security" and to authorize the Texas Department of Public Safety to deport migrants -- measures the Biden administration challenged as unconstitutional.