Texas Governor Greg Abbott

On the coming drone war at the U.S.-Mexico border

Fox News: America’s Newsroom, April 4, 2024

DANA PERINO: Police arresting a Texas National Guardsman for smuggling an illegal immigrant. It is just one of several headlines we are following on the border. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is here, in studio, with us, and we’re thrilled to have him. Thank you so much for being here.

What can you tell us about this? Perhaps an isolated incident, but obviously not good.

GREG ABBOTT: For one, it is isolated, but for another, it makes me angry. I consider this person to be a traitor, a criminal, fighting back against what we are trying to do in the state of Texas.

We are using our National Guard to repel and to stop illegal immigration. To have a member of the National Guard be involved in assisting in illegal immigration is reprehensible.

Know this. I just recently signed a law that increased the penalties for smuggling illegal immigrants to a mandatory minimum of 10 years behind bars.

This person is a traitor to the cause and mission of the national guard. Hopefully he’ll be put behind bars for more than 10 years.

But let me use this as a public information message. If there’s anybody who comes in and smuggles illegal immigrants in, you’re going to be caught. You’re going to be spending a long time behind bars in Texas.

BILL HEMMER: The Biden administration seems to fight you on just about everything you’re trying to do down there. SB 4, the state bill where you can arrest illegals and deport them to Mexico, is just one of them.

The other one is what you’re trying to do to contain the border. That includes razor wire. 

Dana and I have observed, for months now, how the Biden administration is not telling you to stop doing that. And we’ve seen Eagle Pass, Texas, and Matt Finn 30 minutes ago in El Paso said they’ve constructed 122 miles of razor wire.

Question: Why does the administration not stopping you from doing this?

ABBOTT: I have to applaud our National Guard for stepping up and laying down that more than 100 miles of razor wire. Because it is an effective barrier that denies illegal entry.

But, look. As you all know, the number one issue in the nation, in the presidential race, is illegal immigration. And you know that Texas is the only one stepping up and doing anything about it.

If Biden, who’s so underwater in the polling on illegal immigration, were to interfere with what Texas is doing, it would really destroy his campaign.

I’ll add this, that the public doesn't know. The Border Patrol, on the ground, in all these areas that we’re working, they support Texas doing what we’re doing. So, they’re against the president —

HEMMER: But they’ve bucked you on everything, and they’ve backed off on this. We’re just curious to know why? What explains that?

ABBOTT: It would completely dismantle the Biden campaign. Going after the only person in the United States stopping illegal immigration, it would decimate his campaign. His campaign would be over. He might as well just leave office tomorrow.

PERINO: Remember they said they were going to come in and cut the razor wire? They haven’t done that. They don’t want the visual of that, indeed.

I do want to ask you about terror threat possibilities coming across the border. On Sunday alone, Easter Sunday, 919 known gotaways were recorded at the border. A 7-day average is 761.

Terror watch list migrants, year-to-date right now, 69. This is scary.

Peter Doocy asked John Kirby about it yesterday at the White House. Watch him, here.

PETER DOOCY: The chief of the Border Patrol is saying, 140,000 gotaways. “If we don’t know who is coming into our country, and we don’t know what their intent is, that is a threat.” Does President Biden agree?

JOHN KIRBY: The president absolutely believes that along that border we do have significant national security concerns that have to be met.

PERINO: He also said that they’re doing everything that they possibly can. But are you worried that we’re in a September 10th mentality on this issue?

ABBOTT: Let’s be clear. The Biden administration is doing nothing to stop terrorists from coming across the border. They are knowingly allowing them in.

There are two categories, here. There are the terrorists who are actually apprehended. The terrorists apprehended are at an all-time record. Many multiples of those who came across the border under the Trump administration.

The second thing you talked about, the gotaways. Terrorists will pay extra not to be caught. What that means is, the number that we’ve caught, which is extraordinary, there are far more than that who have gotten across the border.

Remember this also. Last month, the FBI director talked about a potential 9/11-type terrorist attack, because of terrorists who are coming across our border.

The chief job of the President of the United States is national security. President Biden is failing at national security. We are extraordinarily concerned about a terrorist attack occurring in Texas, or elsewhere in the United States, because of the terrorists who are crossing our border, at will. Unstopped by the Biden administration.

HEMMER: Do you think ISIS is here? Today?

ABBOTT: I have no information that they are. However, again, the FBI director was talking last month about the possibility that ISIS could be coming here.

Think about this concept. It’s ridiculous! That anyone has their shoes inspected at an airport, these days, when terrorists can come right across the border, and sneak in, and come here.

Let me foreshadow, also, another concern we’re going to have really soon. It’s already kind of beginning right now. And that’s going to be drone wars. The capability of the cartels about getting things across the border through drones is already extraordinary. They’re going to be more aggressive, more sophisticated in the drone attacks. We could sustain a drone attack, any time.

HEMMER: You mentioned the campaign a moment ago. It seems like President Biden has turned his focus to abortion. And especially, over the last ten days, he’s all about health care, right now. And getting away from the border. Do you think that can win this year?

ABBOTT: Because of what we have suffered in the United States, by Joe Biden’s illegal immigration policies, by the lack of safety, by the number of Americans who are being killed by the migrants allowed in across the border illegally by the Biden administration. This is what you call murder by government policy. And Americans are sick and tired of it. Americans are going to vote for safety in this election.

If you’re not safe in your home, in your business, in your community, you can’t do anything else. Americans are going to come out in droves and vote for safety and common sense in this election.

PERINO: Yesterday we read a poll in Bloomberg that said 8 in 10 voters in the swing states consider the issue of fentanyl to be one that they will make a decision on who they’re going to vote for based on that.

If there were a change in administration, how quickly could some of the fentanyl be stopped — or at least, prevented from coming into the country?

ABBOTT: With a person like Donald Trump, who has the fortitude to get it done, it could be done overnight. There’s a very simple way you can stop it. You close down the border.

Contrary to what Biden said, the president does have the full legal authority to close down the border immediately. And that’s exactly what President Trump would do.

Notice, also. Texas Department of Public Safety, alone, has seized more fentanyl than is needed to kill one hundred percent of every man, woman and child in the United States of America. This is extraordinarily dangerous.

HEMMER: You’ve shipped, I should say bused, you have bused, tens of thousands of migrants to places like New York City. How do you think the state is dealing with that today? The mayor, the governor? And all of them?

ABBOTT: In New York?

HEMMER: Yes.

ABBOTT: They’re dealing with the consequences of their sanctuary city status. They were openly —

HEMMER: Did you expect the reaction that you’ve gotten? When you made that decision?

ABBOTT: When you say reaction, what are you talking about? What type?

HEMMER: The headlines that have been on the front page of cities all across America.

ABBOTT: Some of the headlines, they were criticizing me, for doing it. In a way, yes, I expected the hypocrisy. Which is exactly what it is.

But I also expected the reality. And that is, these democrat mayors, and democrat governors, in these cities and states to which we have bused illegal immigrants, we knew that they would not be able to deal with it. Just like Texas, small communities that we are trying to proect, have not been able to deal with it. 

And you’re seeing infighting within the democrat party. Because they haven’t understood how to grapple with this issue. And it’s causing a rift in their own party. 

But more importantly, it’s causing a divide in the United States of America. A divide that will be fixed and repaired the day that Donald Trump is reelected to be president of the United States.

PERINO: Are you surprised that President Biden won’t help the democrat mayors of the United States on this issue?

ABBOTT: For one, let’s be honest. Does he really know what’s going on? I don’t know if he does or not —

PERINO: Bill just said, he stopped talking about immigration because Obama told him to focus on health care.

HEMMER: That was deliberate. 

ABBOTT: So, Biden is incapable of dealing with his own democrats to actually do something on the border, to get something done on the border.

Let me give you an easy example. If he wanted to fix the border, he could have gone and embraced H.R. 2, that was actually passed by the United States House of Representatives. That would have begun to fix the damage caused on the border. But that’s the last thing he wanted to do.

HEMMER: Governor, we really appreciate your time. Thanks for coming by today.

PERINO: Let us know how your reception in New York is. […] Thanks so much.