EL PASO, Texas (KFOX/TND) — Texas Governor Greg Abbott went on a radio show and made a comment about “not shooting people who come across the border.”
The clip went viral on social media and it wasn’t so much about what Abbott has done to protect Texas’ borders, but what he hasn’t done to those who enter the country illegally through Texas.
During the Jan. 5 radio interview with Dana Loesch, a former editor at Breitbart News and spokesperson for the National Rifle Association, Loesch asked Abbott what he can do before they say Governor you are breaking the law.'”
Abbott responded, “We are deploying every tool and strategy that we possibly can. The only thing that we’re not doing is, we’re not shooting people who come across the border because of course the Biden administration will charge us with murder.”
Texas Democrats raised concern.
El Paso Congresswoman Veronica Escobar took to X calling Abbott’s comment “unacceptable.”
The Republican Governor has been criticized for his rhetoric on immigration.
In 2019, the day before a mass shooter killed more than two dozen people at an El Paso Walmart near the U.S.-Mexico border, his campaign sent out a fundraising mailer about a need to protect the border, according to the Texas Tribune.
“The national Democrat machine has made no secret of the fact that it hopes to ‘turn Texas blue.’ If they can do it in California, they can do it in Texas — if we let them,” Abbott wrote in the fundraising appeal. Though only U.S. citizens can vote, the governor signed off with another pointed warning: “Unless you and I want liberals to succeed in their plan to transform Texas — and our entire country — through illegal immigration, this is a message we MUST send.”
The gunman posted online minutes before the El Paso killing that there was a “Hispanic invasion.”
El Paso is one Border Patrol’s busiest area for migrant encounters.
Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection shutdown freight crossings in El Paso and Eagle Pass, in response to as many as 1,000 migrants riding atop a single train through Mexico before trying to walk across the border.
Abbott has explained his efforts to “protect” Texas’ borders.
Abbott said he is using every tool he can such as building border walls to border barriers; passing SB4, which the Biden Administration has now filed a lawsuit against Texas.
KFOX spoke to residents who were split when asked how effective Abbott’s approach to securing the border in Texas has been.
“I think they were kind of effective a little bit, but a lot of people say they’re not kind of humane ways,” an El Pasoan said.
“The way it is if someone wants to come they’re going to come. It’s either going to be easy or it’s going to be hard,” Antonio Hernandez said.
For any meaningful change to immigration reform, both Democrats and Republicans will have to come together.
“Both political parties should come together and find a solution to it. There’s so many hurdles in legal immigration that that’s the reason people are trying and going for the illegal immigration,” an El Pasoan said.
Abbott responded to a reporter’s question about his comment during a news conference about the state’s plans for severe weather.
Listen, I was asked a question to legally distinguish between what Texas has the legal authority to do and what would be illegal to do. And I explained in detail, all the different things that Texas is doing that we have the legal authority to do and pointed out what would be illegal to. It’s that simple, Abbott said. I was asked to point out where the line is drawn about what would be illegal and I pointed out something that is obviously illegal.