The Democrat party’s failure to secure our southern border has once again been exposed for all to see. Despite their claims of being the “party of compassion,” they have left our border in utter chaos, with a record 2.4 million encounters with migrants attempting to cross into the United States in the last fiscal year.
Thankfully, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is stepping up and doing what the Democrats won’t. He has created a new position of Texas border czar, and appointed Mike Banks, a retired Border Patrol agent, to the position. Banks’ top priority is to make Texas the least desirable place for illegal immigration to cross, and he will report directly to Governor Abbott.
The border czar appointment comes as the Border Patrol announced that their focus remains on the besieged city of El Paso, which has become the most active border crossing in the nation. Border Patrol agents encountered 162,603 migrants in the last three months at the spot, which is more than three times the 49,000 people they encountered in the same period one year ago.
The Democrats claim to care about families and children, but the majority of those trying to come across the border at El Paso were single adults. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies are struggling to keep up with the demand for basic necessities like baby formula and diapers for families arriving in west Texas seeking asylum.
Banks will be responsible for handling the surging migrant numbers, like the one in El Paso in December that caused the city to declare an emergency. Texas state troopers and Texas National Guard troops were called up to assist overwhelmed Border Patrol agents.
The new border czar will also be tasked with persuading private land owners to allow the state to access their property to construct additional miles of border wall, finally giving the American people the security and protection they deserve.
It’s time for the Democrats to step up and do their job. They can no longer ignore the reality of the crisis at our southern border and leave it up to Republicans to fix. We need to secure our border now, and that’s exactly what Governor Abbott and the Texas border czar are doing.