As part of the state’s border security activities, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced new rules on Wednesday afternoon. Abbott has directed the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to adopt a zero-tolerance rule for “unsafe” vehicles that might be used to transport migrants.
To enforce this, DPS will perform additional safety checks of these vehicles as they cross the border into Texas. In response to reports that the Biden administration is busing migrants into Texas cities across the border, Abbott has authorized the Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM) to hire buses to transport migrants to the Congress in Washington, D.C.
The Texas National Guard has also been ordered to set up blockades in the event of large-scale migration. With the help of Texas Parks and Sanctuaries, boat barricades will be set up on the Rio Grande, and barbed wire and container blockades will be set up at limited crossings along the borders, said a report.
The guard will begin mass migration rehearsals on Thursday and will continue through May in five sites. In preparation for “caravan violence,” all engaged in these exercises will be outfitted with riot gear. Military actions are expected to expand in the Rio Grande Valley, including at the Anzalduas Bridge near McAllen, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Laredo, and Zapata. In high-smuggling regions, the border will also be lighted at night.
More directions are scheduled to be published next week, according to Abbott.
This follows the CDC’s announcement last week it would remove a policy that restricted asylum at the US-Mexico border in preventing the spread of COVID-19, often called Title 42. The new policy will not go into effect until May 23.