Governor Greg Abbott is praising a federal judge's ruling that ends the Department of Homeland Security's policy of releasing people caught crossing the border illegally until their hearing. A federal judge in Florida issued the ruling this week.
"Another federal court announced what Texans—and Americans—have known all along: President Biden's open border policies are, in the words of Judge Wetherell, 'akin to posting a flashing Come In We’re Open sign on the southern border,'" Abbott wrote in a statement.
In his ruling, Judge Kent Wetherell, who was appointed by Donald Trump, wrote an "unprecedented 'surge' of aliens started arriving at the Southwest Border almost immediately after President Biden took office and that has continued unabated over the past two years."
Homeland Security had argued "alternatives to detention" were easing overcrowding at detention facilities. DHS said those who were released were required to wear ankle monitors and check in by phone.
The agency says immigration officers also checked in on those who were released.
Abbott cited numbers from the conservative group, Federation for American Immigration Reform, showing almost three million illegal immigrants are now staying in Texas. The group says illegal immigrants and their children are likely to cost taxpayers in Texas $13.4 billion this year.
Texas lawmakers included more than $4 billion for border security in the current two year budget.
"While the State of Texas continues stepping up to secure the border in the federal government's absence, this ruling is a major win in our fight to combat the record-breaking levels of illegal immigration caused by the President's sustained dereliction of duty," Abbott writes.
In January, the White House announced additional enforcement measures at the border. The Biden Administration said it was "surging additional resources to the border and the region, scaling up its anti-smuggling operations, and expanding coordination and support for border cities and non-governmental organizations."
The measures also include plans to "expedite legal pathways for orderly migration." The changes were made in response to courts maintaining the policy that requires asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their case plays out.
The administration says it made the change in "close partnership with Mexico and governments across the Western Hemisphere."
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