Allen West Called on Texas to Secure Its Border, Build the Wall. Greg Abbott Finally Agrees.

Allen West Called on Texas to Secure Its Border, Build the Wall — Greg Abbott Finally Agrees

The relationship between Texas Republican Party Chairman Allen West and Governor Greg Abbott has been strained. West has been pushing the party to align more with the populist America- and Texas-First mentality, a la Donald Trump, while Abbott and many in Texas Republican leadership have sought a kinder, gentler GOP. But both are in agreement that the border crisis must be addressed immediately and the Biden administration is doing nothing but helping the cartels.

West, who will be stepping down as Chair on July 11, has been considering running against Abbott for Governor. That may be why Abbott is finally taking action on the border. On May 23, Allen released a video standing in front of the incomplete border wall near El Paso and lambasted the Biden administration for holding back Customs and Border Protection while halting wall construction. He called on Texas to pick up the mantle and defend the southern border on its own with clear implications that Abbott isn’t doing enough.

West posted the video on Gab yesterday. A few hours later, Abbott announced orders that seemed to address much of what West had called on him to do. According to Fox News:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced his state has allocated $1 billion in its fiscal year budget toward border security, telling “The Ingraham Angle” on Thursday he will use part of that money to resume the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall started by Donald Trump but hastily halted by President Biden.

Abbott, joining the program from the border near Del Rio, said he has had enough of the White House’s “willful” disregard for rule of law and for the well-being of Texans and Americans, especially those in places like Del Rio and other border towns.

“To make a fine point on it, we have to build a border wall,” said Abbott. “I’ve been down here talking to the people in the Rio Grande Valley and the way they are being overrun is reprehensible, it’s disastrous what the Biden administration has done.”

Abbott condemned Biden for ending the “Remain in Mexico” policy that Trump forged with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, which staved off some of the influx of migrants as they were instructed to file for asylum in Mexico before crossing into the United States.

“[Trump] began building the border wall and now suddenly all of that disappeared and as you highlighted, it has led to a dramatic increase in the number of people crossing the border but it’s not just on the company minors, its people were causing great damage and harm to the residents right here in Del Rio as while his people up and down the entire border,” said Abbott.

It is not confirmed that Abbott’s move is a response to West’s calls for action, but it seems very likely the popular conservative’s message reached Abbott at some point over the last two weeks. As GOP Chair, any public messages by West will be monitored by Abbott’s team. Moreover, everything West said in the video makes absolute sense and in light of Abbott’s inaction thus far, one has to assume the pressure applied by West played a role in Abbott’s decision.

West noted that Texas leads the nation in human sex trafficking for a reason. The cartels operate on both sides of the border and strike fear into American citizens with the power they wield. If Biden is holding back the federal government from protecting Americans against the evils of these transnational crime syndicates, then it’s up to Texas to lead the way.

It’s good that Allen West continues to apply pressure to protect our sovereign nation from foreign invaders. His leadership in Texas has been inspiring and his message is making an impact.

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