Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has made it clear that the Lone Star state plans on building its own wall on the southern border. After days of speculation regarding how it would happen, he provided an update, sharing that the state would call for crowdfunding in order to raise funds for the project. Soon after, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) announced that Florida would be sending officers to respond to immigration concerns at the border. However, local officials and business leaders in Texas are now criticizing Governor Abbott, arguing that Texas leadership is not paying attention to the true needs of the Lone Star state and is instead focusing on building a wall.
Governor DeSantis called the “Border Crisis” an “unmitigated disaster” in an email sent to supporters. Sharing that he was proud “that Florida will send state and local enforcement officers to Texas and Arizona following their calls to send in backup for our brave border patrol agents,” the Florida Governor also slammed President Joe Biden (D), arguing that he “has worked to undo all the progress made on securing our border made by President Trump, and it has resulted in an unprecedented immigration disaster.”
However, not everyone agrees when the Sunshine State Governor expresses that the Biden Administration has only created a "dereliction of duty... at our border."
Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez questioned the need for recent rhetoric surrounding the construction of a border wall.
“There’s crime in Chicago, there’s crime in D.C., there’s crime in Dallas, there’s crime in Houston,” he said, questioning, “why aren’t they talking about the crime and the murders in big cities all over the country? Why us?”
In a report by The Texas Tribune, local leaders argue that the rhetoric hurts their businesses.
Monica Steward, a property owner in downtown McAllen, argued that politicians in Washington should fix the legal immigration system to allow it to better enhance the efficiency of getting across the border because the sales tax revenues of McAllen’s comes from Mexican shoppers.
