Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the National Guard to install concertina wire along the United States border with New Mexico in an attempt to deter illegal immigrants from crossing.
Officials noted that guard members have been working to place razor wires in an area close to Sunland Park, New Mexico, which shares a border with El Paso, Texas. Video footage showed that some of the fencing ran along the Rio Grande River.
Texas Installs Concertina Wire To Deter Immigrants
The Texas Republican said that the new barrier was meant to keep migrants from crossing from Mexico into New Mexico before going to El Paso. In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Abbott said that the state installed the concertina wire because the barriers around El Paso forced immigrants into New Mexico.
He said that the installation of the new concertina wire was to put an end to the route that immigrants were taking. The Texas Military Department (TMD) also said that the Texas National Guard was "fortifying" the border between the two regions, as per ABC News.
The TMD also said that the National Guard heavily fortified the border in El Paso with 18 miles of concertina wire. They noted that they were now working on fortifying the border between Texas and New Mexico to stop migrants from entering New Mexico and going into Texas.
Officials said that the efforts conducted in El Paso were bolstered by the recent deployment of the Texas Tactical Border Force to the region. The National Guard was also focused on operations to prevent, deter, and interdict transnational criminal activity and illegal immigration along the border.
A New Mexico Rep. Gabe Vasquez spokesperson noted that state officials were not warned about Gov. Abbott's plans to install the concertina wire. Vasquez's office released a statement that said that the barrier was unconstitutional.
The installation of the concertina wire comes after Abbott made a statement last month revealing that his state planned to install a barrier along the border between the New Mexico-Texas border, according to the Texas Tribune.
Addressing the Migrant Crisis
The new barrier consists of two rows of wire that were strung between metal poles running through an urban area west of Interstate 10, near Mount Cristo Rey, which is a local landmark that has a statue of Jesus atop a mountain peak.
The Texas governor's order to deploy members of the National Guard to El Paso was part of the state's Operation Lone Star. This was Abbott's border security initiative that was launched in early 2021 that allowed officials to arrest migrants who crossed the border illegally and charged them with a misdemeanor for trespassing.
A professor at the University of New Mexico, Joshua Kastenberg said that like every other governor, Abbott has something that is known as "police power." This is the authority to enforce the laws that are unique to the states to safeguard the health and security of their people.
However, even if the Republican has police power, that authority ends when it begins to impact one of two areas; federal functions or commerce in other states, said KOB4.
