Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is deploying National Guard troops in M113 armored personnel carriers at various positions along the border after previously threatening to use gunboats to quell the influx of migrants at the border.
The news comes after Abbott on Wednesday invoked a constitutional clause warning President Joe Biden that the Lone Star state would go rogue to defend itself against what it calls an “invasion” by migrants on the called southern border.
Texas Department of Defense officials on Thursday ordered the 10 armored personnel carriers and announced that about 50 soldiers would be trained to operate them.
Armored personnel carriers are large, heavily armored vehicles that move like tracked tanks, but are designed to carry troops into battle alongside tanks.
Affectionately nicknamed the “battle taxi” by Army troops, the M113 is bulletproof and capable of withstanding small blasts – the US recently sent 200 to Ukraine to fight the country against Russia.
It remains unclear whether the armored personnel carriers sent to the border will be armed, but the vehicle can equip heavy machine guns and grenade launchers.
The M113 infantry fighting vehicle, affectionately nicknamed the “battle taxi” by troops, is deployed to the Texas-Mexico border as Governor Abbott attempts to stop the border crisis
Texas Military Department officials ordered the 10 armored personnel carriers Thursday as Abbott said Texas had “no choice but to escalate our efforts to secure our state.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will increase state enforcement resources along the southern border, including using gunboats on the Rio Grande
“These actions are part of a broader strategy to use all available means to address record levels of illegal immigration,” the Texas Defense Department said in a statement.
In addition to the armored personnel carriers, the department announced increased “aircraft flights and security efforts” as the state takes “unprecedented measures to protect our border.”
On Wednesday, Abbott made it clear to President Biden that Texas takes the border crisis seriously, telling him that “Texans are paying the price for their failure” at the border and that Democrat policies have had “catastrophic results.”
Abbott on Tuesday announced its intention to invoke the clause, along with a list of controversial enforcement proposals
“Your silence in the face of our repeated pleas is deafening. Your refusal to even visit the border to see first-hand the chaos you have caused is scathing,” the searing note continued.
“Two years of inaction on your part now leaves Texas with no choice but to escalate our efforts to secure our state.”
Abbott also told Biden that the founders who drafted the constitution and that particular invasion clause “foresaw their failure.”
The constitutional clause that Abbott invokes to increase resources at the border, found in Section 10 of Article I of the Constitution, prohibits individual states from unilateral military action “unless they are actually being attacked or are about to be attacked.” Danger that does not allow delay. ‘
A record surge in asylum seekers attempting to enter the US via Mexico during the last two years of Biden’s tenure has strained the US federal immigration system.
Before sending the letter to Biden, Abbott took to Twitter to inform his followers that he was “invoking the invasion clauses of the US and Texas constitutions to fully authorize Texas to take unprecedented action to protect our state.” to defend against invasion”.
He also wants to “build a wall in several counties along the border,” “use gunboats to secure the border,” and designate drug cartels based in Mexico as foreign terrorist organizations — something only the federal government can do.
Aerial view of migrants camping on the banks of the Rio Bravo (or Rio Grande as it is known in the US) river in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, taken on November 15, 2022
Abbott wrote several letters to local and federal officials this week about his plans to crack down on migrants crossing the border from Mexico
More than 2.3 million people were caught trying to cross the US border in the past fiscal year (Pictured: An asylum-seeking migrant reacts as she approaches a Border Patrol agent after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico to Roma, Texas , USA, November 9, 2022)
Abbott also called for the conclusion of security pacts with other states and “agreements with foreign powers to improve border security.”
The post echoes a separate letter Abbott sent Monday to district judges along the Texas-Mexico border, in which he vowed to take executive action and invoke the clause.
“Texas has provided more than $4 billion from Texas taxpayers for this and other efforts to secure the border and improve public safety,” the letter said about the collective initiatives.
Last month there were 230,678 recorded encounters between undocumented migrants and border guards, the latest data shows. This is a slight increase compared to September.
The list includes the use of the National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest migrants and send them back across the border — it’s not clear if asylum-seekers are included.
He also wants to “build a wall in several counties on the border,” “use gunboats to secure the border,” and label drug cartels based in Mexico as foreign terrorists.
More than 2.3 million migrants were detained at the southern border in the past fiscal year, the highest number in U.S. history.
More than 1.6 million were adults, 560,600 were families and 152,000 were unaccompanied minors – an all-time high for this group.
Abbott has also increased pressure on Democratic politicians to take the border crisis seriously by sending busloads of immigrants to “sanctuary cities” across the US, most recently Philadelphia.
Texas has transported more than 13,000 migrants to those cities since April, with Abbott denouncing the repeal of Trump-era Title 42 legislation that allowed border officials to immediately deport asylum seekers due to COVID-19.
“This will further signal to cartels, people smugglers and illegal immigrants that the border is wide open – which will incite more violence and lawlessness,” he said.
Federal officials arrested more than 230,600 people and expelled more than 78,400 people at the US-Mexico border in October without giving them an opportunity to plead their cases.