Texas Governor Greg Abbott signs critical border security legislation bills into law

they have seized enough Fentanyl to kill every man woman and child in the entire United States of America in Texas is the only state in the history of the United States to build our own border wall I want to express my gratitude for the leadership of Colonel mccrawal the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety as well as to General Seltzer the adjunct general for the state of Texas I think both them and their teams for all they were doing what they are are doing now is deploying a strategy that no state has ever before deployed to stop people from entering Texas illegally you've seen it on video maybe some of you yourselves have taken pictures of it with the National Guard and DPS working together they are putting down mile after mile after mile of concertina razor wire border barrier right on the border itself and then line it two or three or four strands at a time and behind it you'll have National Guard soldiers as well as DPS officers together those two strategies have directly stopped people from entering Texas illegally it was highly well documented on the night that Tyler 42 was lifted and the deploy I mean the strategy has only been deployed further since that time as we speak right now that strategy is being expanded in areas where there's potential Crossing that could occur even though we've done a lot we recognize that more must be done importantly the legislature has recognized that also and they stepped up to begin with by providing and allocating just this session 5.1 billion dollars for Texas to do even more to secure a border that comes on top of what the allocated last session which was about 4.5 billion dollars for Texas to secure the Border in just two sessions Texas is spending close to 10 billion dollars to deal with the crisis and Chaos caused by the bite Administration I'm signing bills today that will ensure that Texas will be able to do even more to stop illegal immigrants from Crossing into our state the first bill addresses one of the causes and one of the greatest threats to the border crossings and and that is the deadly and dangerous Mexican drug cartels they are terrorists and I'm about to sign Senate Bill 1900 that treats them as terrorists well it's going to Bill 1900 does is it provides for the designation of drug cartels and other similar groups as foreign terrorist organizations it adds foreign terrorist organizations to organize crime offenses under state law it has higher penalties for criminal activity by a foreign terrorist organization it also adds foreign terrorist organizations to intelligence databases and it allows local public nuisance claims to be filed against foreign terrorist organizations I want to thank Senator Cesar Blanco and house representative member tracy King for working to get this to my desk and I also want to thank two folks who are here with us today who helped out not just in this effort but also helped in other episodes I'm going to be talking about later on they've been active and engaged really working pretty much at Ground Zero throughout this process and that is Sheriff Ray obasqui and Sheriff Benny Martinez I want y'all step forward at this time if you would [Applause] Senate Bill 1900 it is now law in the state of Texas and so we've got you and there you go thank you [Music] next Islam signing that creates a force multiplier on the border this is a situation that we're put in where we need all hands on deck and Senate Bill 1484 helps to achieve that goal it authorizes the Texas Department of Public Safety to train local law enforcement officials on cartel related activity as well as the best tactics to address border crimes the training includes best practices for the interdiction investigation and prosecution of criminal activity in the Border region it requires the Texas Department of Public Safety to identify ways that local law enforcement can help DPS to secure the Border this will help DPS and local law enforcement On the Border collaborate on achieving success under operation Lone Star I want to thank Senator Brandon Creighton and Justin Holland for getting this bill to my desk Senate Bill 1484 is now law in the state of Texas [Applause] Senate Bill 423 it fully authorizes the Texas Military Department to use drones to secure the Border they've been authorized to use drones for various other purposes we wanted to make sure this was crystal clear in state law that these drones could be used by the National Guard as they go about the process of securing the Border as I mentioned before the National Guard is playing an essential role in helping the state to better secure the border from the open area that's been created by the Biden Administration giving the National Guard the ability to use drones just expands their capabilities to do even more I want to thank Senator Angela Paxton and House member Terry Wilson for getting this bill to my desk Senate Bill 423 is now law in the state of Texas foreign Bill 1403 is another law to make our border more secure there's another law that focuses on the concept of collaboration it authorizes the governor to execute an interstate compact for border security among interested states that does not require approval of Congress the compact must provide for joint action among compacting states including sharing law enforcement Intelligence on illegal activity occurring at the border sharing State resources to build a physical barrier and technological surveillance system and sharing other law enforcement resources to ensure the protection of both people and property I want to thank Senator Tim Parker and representative David Spiller for their efforts to get this bill to my desk Senate Bill 1403 is now law in the state of Texas appreciate you thank you there are a lot of devastating consequences because of Biden's open border policies one of which are felt very acutely by those who live along the border or those who own property along the border where they Farm a ranch these farms and ranches have been ripped apart and ever since I've been again going down to the Border talking to local officials after the bat Administration took over one thing I heard time and time again is these local ranchers and Farmers they needed help addressing these challenges part of the help is provided in the form of repelling illegal immigrants trying to come across the border but you still have cartels and Smugglers who cut through fences and property and destroy it and these property owners have suffered massive dollar damages they have to come out of pocket to rebuild their homes their ranches the Lost cattle Etc the state of Texas wanted to step up and address that challenge and they did that and Senate Bill 1133 it helps property owners who have been overrun by the massive illegal immigration increased migrant and legal and law enforcement activity particularly in Border in rural counties has left many landowners with substantial Financial losses as well as property damages what this bill does is it compensates landowners who suffer property damage on agricultural land as well as or as a result of a trespasser committing a border crime of smuggling a person's evading arrest human trafficking or a drug offense Texas landowners may now receive up to 75 thousand dollars per incident I want to thank Senator Cesar Blanco and representative tracy King forgetting this bill to my desk Senate Bill 1133 is now law in the state of Texas [Applause] a request was made to the state of Texas by border patrol where the border patrol could do even more to secure the Border as well as secure the state of Texas if they were authorized to arrest people for crimes under Texas law and what Senate Bill 602 does is to provide that authorization it gives border patrol agents more tools to secure the border and keep our state safe it gives border patrol agents powers of arrest and search and seizure for any felony offense under Texas law if the arrest search or seizure is incident to a detainment under federal law and occurs at a Port of Entry or at a border patrol traffic checkpoint I want to thank Senator Birdwell and house sponsor Sam Harless for getting this to my desk Senate Bill 602 is now law in the state of Texas [Applause] got it I want to give you uh breaking news I mentioned earlier that the Texas legislature provided this state 5.1 billion dollars to secure the Border I also told you we always look to employ whatever strategies will be effective in securing the Border under Colonel craw and general Seltzer they came together to employ this strategy uh this is a new water-based barrier of buoys that you can see what it will look like in the river where we can put mile after mileage a mile of these buoys to go back what we're doing right now we're securing the border at the border where these buoys will allow us to do is to prevent people from even getting to the Border this is what they look like up close this is what they will look like from the sky from a longer Strand and that process is beginning pretty much immediately well on those eyes I'm going to have Colonel mccrawal speak and then General Selzer before I take questions but Colonel McCraw can provide you more information about the deployment of these buoys thank you governor well first I'd like to say that uh you know 90 years ago Public Enemy Number One with the gangsters Pretty Boy Floyd John Dillinger the Brady group Bonnie and Clyde today Public Enemy Number One or the Mexican cartels the most powerful and ruthless and violent criminal organization in the world right now the impact every community in Texas as Governor as you know and you've said a number of kinds that every community in the United States as other Governors know why they send resources here to help support your operations you made it very clear in the beginning you know operation detect and interdict transitional criminal activity between the ports of venture because Border Patrol was taken off the line and we've done that working with Texas military forces and our other partners and at the local level been able to interdict Crime but I'm also very clear about being proactive what can we do to hold the line operations and we've been doing those and uh as a general can tell you and it worked obviously because nobody needs to be coming between the ports of venture it's dangerous family units that come across the river between the ports the rain entry are risking themselves and their family members they're putting themselves In Harm's Way and the only one that benefits the only one is enabled enriched and empowered of the Mexican cartels when that happens and clearly you know a strategy in terms of securing the border from the Mexican cartels and and at the ports of Entry even between the ports of Entry matters in terms of the impact what you see here is just another iteration another tool the razor wire has provided a mobile capability and using the resources and expertise the Texas Military they can deploy it quickly right at the river to deter them from even risking themselves coming across this is another iteration in terms where the buoy is on the water itself can be quickly deployed and can be moved both all of these are mobile and and this idea I'd like to tell you that the general and I thought about it because we're brilliant Governor but unfortunately that's not the case the general is brilliant I'm not so much but the bottom line is border patrol is already working on this this was something that border patrol had already looked at designed and even tested a Vortec had tested it they've worked through this type of system so and they looked at the risk mitigation because it's not about risking we don't want anybody to get hurt in fact we want to prevent people from getting hurt prevent people from drowning and this is a proactive way and we're about to deploy the first a thousand feet of it in Eagle Pass because right now the center of gravity we're smuggling is Maverick County in the Eagle Pass area and we don't want people to come across and continue to put their themselves at risk when they go between the ports of Entry That's Mike thank you very much also at the head of the effort to turn back or deny access by illegal immigrants into the state of Texas has been the National Guard led by General seltzer thank you Governor I just want to say Texas is extremely fortunate to have a governor who is absolutely Relentless in his actions to protect the state sovereignty secure our border and preserve the rule of law in Texas at the beginning of this session he made an emergency action item to secure the border the legislators behind me heated that call and my agency applauds them for all their tireless efforts throughout the last few months they passed comprehensive laws that we've seen that will enable a whole government approach to securing the border between Texas and Mexico additionally as has already been said they've secured 5.1 billion dollars so that we can continue this effort into the next biennium so I applaud all of you additionally Texas is no longer Ground Zero for this crisis Texas is a stronghold as is exemplified by 11 states sending their National Guards to the Texas border to help protect the nation so thank you governor for your leadership thank you to the legislature for your leadership and we'll continue to move on into the future thank you thank you to you and your team thank you very much take a few questions about reducing the sentence for family smuggling that something that the house supports that the Senate does not which proposal are you more supportive of you know in a way this is just like the property tax issue the house is centered very close and there's no reason why the House and Senate cannot quickly come together on all of those bills and get them to my desk it I'm telling you can it can happen very quickly very easily just like a lot of bills uh were negotiated at the end of the session uh Senate Bill 2627 401 House Bill 5 for another there was nothing but a cloud of uncertainty over them until the last 48 hours and then suddenly people got to a table negotiated between the House and Senate and Deals were struck that just needs to be repeated for all of the items on this special session call s so I've been abundantly clear to members of the legislature and to the public I'll put items on this call for certain purposes because I want these items passed and there'll be nothing else added to any special session item until the items that I put on the call this session are passed before the time would you support that bill and also because that bill in your eyes and conflict with the so again with regard to legislation in a special session I'm focused on making sure we get across the Finish Line with the voters voted on and expect us to address and that is this property tax bill and and those two items on the border that I put on that were both in my State of the State address we are going to get those passed before we take up any other legislation period to discourage so know this and the carnival crawl is going to provide you the answer you might imagine we went through that intellectual process before these were deployed and they operate in a way that does not allow that but I'll have Colonel crawl explain to you in more detail yeah and importantly the God was also concerned about loss of life you know is this going to be a risk to the migrants coming across family units along those lines and the answer is you know anytime they get in that water it's it's a risk to the migrants this is the term from even coming in the water now it's not to say that this has been tested a number of times a number of ways by by special operators tactical operators Specialists with border patrol and because of the water and the buoyancy of these it's very difficult to be able to go through these very difficult to come over now there's things you can do and I won't tell you exactly what to do at what time to do it okay there's ways to overcome it but it takes great effort it takes specialized skills and equipment to do it and the whole idea though is if somebody can do quickly we can put it there and it deters you know large groups of people from moving in that area we can control it with it along with the a deployment of razor wire and a sufficient number of soldiers and Troopers you know it's an in-depth defense yeah well you could you could sit there for a couple days hold on to it but you eventually you're going to get tired and want to go back you'll get hungry say it again as as the kernel has made clear it will be deployed strategically to address areas that are areas that may be crossed we wouldn't want to deploy it if it's not an area that's being crossed and so we will find the best strategy uh to deploy it I can't hear you what's the cost of well I can tell you that's under a million dollars for their first deployment and it depends on if how much more it's going to be uh acquired over time and that'll be based upon the threat and what we're able to do and of course the legislature has put us in great position with the resources on the barrier side so we'll we'll see yeah the initial thing is per thousand feet I'm sorry uh July 7th these are about four feet they can be six feet depending on the water they can be different height they're actually been used overseas and then for marine barriers to be able in a bay to protect it along those lines so it's not like it's something that that hasn't been deployed before it's buoyant which is important if you're talking about the flood plain it doesn't create you know an offset in the water and it's something that being removed is it is headed toward Central where there is every expectation of a full fair and transparent process is that versions yes you can or you can't there's also webbing that'll go down and anchors to the bottom of the uh so it's it's what option what we opt for and what what we deploy with it if I just provide one last explanation that cannot be over emphasized and and that is a phrase that Colonel used moments ago was a layering effect when we're dealing with Gatherings of a hundred or a thousand people uh the one of the goals is to slow down and deter as many of them as possible some will some may eventually get to the Border where they are going to face that multi-layer razor wire and a full force of National Guard and DPS officers which they will not be allowed to pass they both know they have one instruction do not allow anybody to enter into the state of Texas period this is a barrier that will slow down and reduce the number of people who will even be able to make it past that particular barrier all right thank you very much [Music] [Applause] um

Channel: FOX 26 Houston

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Id: DOZtYVzlcQw

Length: 28min 51sec (1731 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 08 2023