Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said there is nothing President Biden can say in his State of the Union speech Thursday to undo the damage done by his border policies.
“[T]he fact of the matter is, when Biden became president, and today, there are three laws passed by Congress already, that empower the president to deny illegal entry, which he’s not doing, he’s aiding [and] abetting illegal entry," Abbott said in an interview on Fox News's "Special Report" with anchor Bret Baier. "Second, to detain anybody who crosses the border illegally, which he’s not doing. And third, requires the president to build border barriers, including border walls, including the razor wire fence that Texas has built that Biden is trying to tear down.”
“So, what Joe Biden is doing, he’s refusing to enforce laws already passed by Congress, and actually is acting contrary to those laws,” Abbott continued. “Again, there’s no word that could be articulated by the president tonight, that will overcome the facts, of the way that he has unilaterally destroyed the United States of America.”
Biden's handling of the southern border has become a point of contention among Republicans, who blame him for the country's current migrant crisis.
Both Biden and former President Trump recently visited the southern border in dueling trips to the Lone Star State. Abbott joined Trump in the city of Eagle Pass, while Biden went to Brownsville with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Mayorkas went after Abbott on Sunday for comments the week before in which he said Biden doesn’t require new legislation for the enforcement of new border policies.
“Couldn’t be more wrong, couldn’t be more wrong. And as a matter of fact, former president Trump tried to close the border, and it was enjoined in the courts and never saw the light of day,” Mayorkas said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“This coming from an individual who is purposefully refusing to coordinate, communicate, collaborate with other officials and trying to wreak havoc in other cities and states across the country. That is not a model of governance, and he couldn’t be more wrong,” he added.
