(NewsNation) — As the border and immigration continue to be a critical issue ahead of the upcoming election, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told NewsNation he will continue to take action to prevent people from crossing illegally into his state.
Migrant encounter numbers are down substantially in the Lone Star State but lower isn’t good enough. Abbott said that despite the cartel’s hold on the border, Texas has control of Texas, and his goal is to make it so not one person crosses illegally into the state.
“If there are people coming our way, we want them to know something,” he said. “You’re not allowed to cross illegally into the state of Texas.”
From buses to barbed wire and buoys, the governor said he’s not done curbing illegal crossings at his borders until the number reaches zero.
In an exclusive interview with NewsNation, Abbott outlined his plans for Operation Lone Star, a mission he launched more than three years ago to deal with an influx of migrants at the border.
“We’ve got to understand the context of all of this. Let’s assume Texas does succeed in reducing illegal immigration 100% into our state, which is our goal,” Abbott said. “All those terrorists, all those murders, all those rapists, they’re just going to go through New Mexico and Arizona and California.”
While there isn’t robust data on whether more crimes are committed by immigrants or U.S. citizens, some experts have said the data that does exist shows immigrants commit fewer crimes than citizens.
Abbott is going full steam ahead with Operation Lone Star, including measures that have faced legal challenges.
One issue that has been the subject of legal debate is a buoy barrier in the Rio Grande. The effort, part of Operation Lone Star, will expand after the Fifth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals ruled that Texas is legally allowed to install the floating obstacle.
“Those buoys cost one-tenth of the cost of the border wall, and so you can expect to see an increase of the buoys in the Rio Grande River,” he said.
But Abbott told NewsNation’s Ali Bradley it isn’t just the border between Mexico and the U.S. that’s a problem. The borders between states are, too.
The governor said immigrants who cross into the U.S. illegally are coming through New Mexico and walking into El Paso. He said he’s blocking off the neighboring state with razor wire to hit cartels hard.
“They’re not able to make money in Texas like they are in New Mexico, Arizona and California, and that’s why, after we put up the resistance that we did, the cartels took their business to those other states,” Abbott said.
The state’s other tactic involves busing immigrants to sanctuary cities up north. Abbott said he won’t hesitate to start doing that again if crossings spike.
“For about the past two months, almost, the crossings have been down so much we haven’t had the volume of people to actually bus to other locations,” Abbott said. “We’re fully expecting to see a higher volume coming our way sometime in the coming months, and so we stand ready and prepared to start busing operations again if people make the mistake of coming into the state of Texas.”
But buses, buoys and barbed wire only do so much.
In a recent NewsNation special, anonymous agents expressed another concern, expressing fears about the cartels being more in control of the border than the government.
Abbott said that is a problem the U.S. government has to fix.
“We’ve solved the Texas problem, but not the United States problem,” he said. “That requires a new president to make sure that we are actually going to secure our border.”