governor. Greg Abbott On Monday he announced the creation of a “border caesar” in Texas and said he had appointed a retired Border Patrol agent to the position who “will leverage his experience to deploy strategies that reduce illegal immigration and keep our community safe.”
The video above shows how an increase in the number of border crossings may send some immigrants to Harris County courts.
Abbott said Mike Banks, who retired from the Border Patrol 10 days ago, will work alongside the Texas National Guard, state troopers and the Texas Utilities Commission to “accelerate construction of the Texas border wall.”
Banks said his top priority in his new job “is to make Texas the least desirable place for illegal immigration transit. I don’t think it’s going to be that hard…we just need to be more aggressive.”
Since President Joe Biden took office, Abbott has been highly critical of the president’s immigration policies. In March 2021, he launched Operation Lone Star—sending hundreds of National Guard soldiers and state troops into border counties to catch migrants crossing the border. Hundreds of migrants have been charged with trespassing and are being held in prison. The state has spent more than $4 billion on this effort since Operation Lone Star began.
During Monday’s news conference in San Benito, Abbott said that “fighting illegal immigration in Texas is a full-time job” and “requires a leader whose sole focus” is the president’s immigration policies.
Abbott did not provide details about the bank’s duties or the amount he would be charged.
Banks has been in the Border Patrol for more than 20 years, Abbott said, serving under four chiefs, including as agent in charge of Border Patrol stations in Weslaco and McAllen.
During the press conference, Abbott also highlighted ongoing border wall construction by the state and said his office has estimated that the state is spending $25 million per mile to build the wall.
So far, the state has erected a 1.7-mile stretch of wall on state-owned land in Starr County, part of a $162 million contract awarded to Posillico Civil Inc. New York-based in November 2021 to build eight miles of the wall. Posilico Civil began another section of the wall in December at Los Indios in Cameron County.
Since Abbott announced the state would build a wall in June 2021, the Texas Utilities Commission, the agency responsible for the project, has awarded six contracts totaling $841 million to build and manage 37 miles of border barrier in Cameron, Starr, Val Verde, Webb and Zapata counties.
Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs – and engages – Texans on public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues.
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