In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott responded to President Joe Biden’s executive order limiting asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, saying that the order will actually increase immigration.
“What Biden did today was actually entice more people to come to our border to increase illegal immigration, not to stop it. He’s not using any tool or strategy to deny illegal immigration,” he said.
Biden issued the executive order on Tuesday that will limit crossings when a certain threshold is reached. The restrictions will go into effect once the number of daily illegal crossings surpasses 2,500.
The order is one of the most restrictive immigration policies put in place by a modern Democratic president.
Abbott told Hannity that Texas will continue to secure the border using its own strategies.
“The Biden administration can try to do whatever they wanna try to do. Texas is not gonna back off of what we are doing to actually securing the border,” he said.
Abbott claimed that immigration rates have increased in other border states including California, New Mexico and Arizona, and Texas’ immigration rate has decreased “because of the resistance we’ve put up.” He did not provide evidence to back those claims.
“What Biden announced today is nothing more than gaslighting his fellow Americans. There is nothing in this announcement today that actually shows any enforcement of any immigration law that denies illegal entry into the country,” he said.
The governor claimed there are three laws that Biden “isn’t enforcing,” which are denying illegal entry into the U.S., detaining immigrants and building border barriers.
Abbott said border buoys and razor wire remain up on the U.S.-Mexico border despite the Biden administration’s calls to take down the barriers.
“All it takes is enforcement and deterrence. That’s what Texas is doing. That’s what the Biden administration is refusing to do,” Abbott said.