The Biden administration pointed the finger at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and former President Donald Trump Friday after The Post filmed hundreds of migrants tearing down razor wire and rushing the border wall, saying Republicans continue to “politicize” the issue and that the only “solution” is for Congress to spend billions on frontier security.
“The razor wire, that’s [Abbott]. The National Guard, that’s him. The Border Patrol agents still did their job. They got in the way, like the governor’s plans got in the way,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during her regular briefing.
Jean-Pierre added that “I have not spoken” to Biden about the video before round on Abbott once again.
“I really truly believe that’s a question for the Republican governor of Texas. This is something that he should address, that he should actually speak to,” she said. “The president has worked with Congress and the Senate, as I just spoke to, about getting an immigration bill done, making sure that we deal with the border challenges that we’re now seeing. And you have a governor of Texas who has continued to politicize this.
“I do want to say we are grateful for the Border Patrol’s quick work to get the situation under control and apprehend the migrants, so that’s important,” Jean-Pierre added, “but congressional Republicans need to move on this.
What they’re doing instead … is listening to the former president, President Trump, telling them not to get involved in moving with this bipartisan agreement because of his own personal politics.”
Jean-Pierre reiterated the “solution” for the record-breaking number of migrants being apprehended during President Biden’s term is for Congress to “move forward” with the Biden-backed Senate bill that would have allocated $20 billion for border security.
House leadership has declined to bring the bill up for a vote, arguing it is redundant to the powers Biden already has as well as taking issue with additional funding for Ukraine and Israel. Biden himself has insisted that the bill must pass for him to take action against illegal immigration.
Abbott has previously said that Congress has already passed laws that give Biden “every tool that he needs,” but that the president just chooses to blame Congress.
“We need more resources, we need more personnel,” Jean-Pierre added, noting that everyone in the video “was apprehended by the Border Patrol agents.”
Texas has been locked in a legal battle with the federal government over a state law that would allow the arrest of migrants deemed to be crossing the border illegally. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Texas on Tuesday, but the law was blocked within hours by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals late Tuesday night.
Abbott has also gone back and forth with the White House over taking border control into the Texas government’s hands at Eagle Pass, a city hit especially hard by a wave of migrants coming across the Rio Grande.
The governor has erected razor wire and sent Texas National Guard to control a park where most crossings take place.
Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Post.
Trump has vowed to reinstate his hardline border policies if he is elected to a non-consecutive term in November.
