Texas takes action over growing 'border crisis,' blames Biden's policies for making situation worse

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced Saturday he was deploying the National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border to address what he described as a "border crisis."

The development comes just days after a top immigration official warned the incoming migrant surge will be the biggest in over 20 years, potentially handing President Joe Biden the first crisis of his administration.

What are the details?

Abbott announced Texas began "Operation Lone Star" to combat the growing "crisis" at the border.

"Today Texas launched Operation Lone Star to respond to the border crisis," Abbott tweeted Saturday. "It deploys Nat'l Guard + DPS Officers + air, ground, marine, & tactical border security assets to deny Mexican Cartels & smugglers the ability to move drugs & people into Texas."

In a statement, Abbott blamed Biden administration policies for the intensifying problems at the border.

"The crisis at our southern border continues to escalate because of Biden Administration policies that refuse to secure the border and invite illegal immigration," Abbott said.

"Texas supports legal immigration but will not be an accomplice to the open border policies that cause, rather than prevent, a humanitarian crisis in our state and endanger the lives of Texans. We will surge the resources and law enforcement personnel needed to confront this crisis," he added.

What about Biden?

On the campaign trail, Biden promised to reverse his predecessor's deterrent immigration policies, and he has already begun to make good on those promises.

For example, Biden has reversed a Trump-era policy that forced migrant asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their immigration cases are processed in the U.S. The Biden administration's current goal is to process migrants and release them into the U.S. within 72 hours, according to the Washington Post.

Unfortunately for Biden, his policies are being blamed for the magnifying crisis.

"Shelters are overflowing. Border crossings are rising. Border Patrol facilities are overwhelmed. And the new administration is taking fire from both the left and right as it grapples with the issue's harsh realities," Axios reported last week.

Even Texas Democrats, especially those whose congressional districts border Mexico, are blaming Biden.

"You just can't say, 'Yeah, yeah, let everybody in' — because then we're affected down there at the border," Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said recently. "The bad guys know how to market this."

In a separate interview, Cuellar said, "We are weeks, maybe even days, away from a crisis on the southern border. Inaction is simply not an option. Our country is currently unprepared to handle a surge in migrants in the middle of the pandemic."