Texas governor rips Biden for ‘appalling’ focus on European borders while ignoring Rio Grande crisis

Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott called out President Joe Biden on Wednesday evening for turning ‘a blind eye’ to the growing problems on the United States southern border while showing concern for the refugee crisis along the Belarusian-Polish border in Eastern Europe.

‘President Biden’s concern for other nations’ borders, while he turns a blind eye to the United States’ borders that he swore to protect and defend, is appalling,’ Abbott’s Press Secretary Renae Eze told DailyMail.com.

‘His reckless open border policies have created an ongoing crisis along our southern border, leading to a 61-year record-high number of illegal immigrants surging into our state.’

Nearly 1.7 million people were encountered trying to cross the US southwest border in the 12 month period that ended in October, US Customs and Border Protection announced. 

The record-shattering number of migrants has overwhelmed state and local officials who have been pleading for help from the Biden administration and spurred further concern over the spread of COVID-19.  

Abbott’s press secretary claims the Lone Star state was forced to ‘step up’ to secure the border while Biden’s government was ‘absent.’

‘Texas continues stepping up to secure our southern border and protect Texans in the federal government’s absence,’ Eze said. 

Texas Governor Greg Abbott accused President Joe Biden of a double-standard in a statement to DailyMail.com on Wednesday evening

‘Since Governor Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March, the National Guard and DPS have apprehended over 76,000 migrants and arrested over 8,800 who committed a state or federal crime, including smugglers and human traffickers, to crack down on illegal crossings of migrants coming from over 150 countries around the world.’

DailyMail.com has reached out to the White House for a response but has not immediately heard back. 

Border encounters hit a 21-year high in July of 213,593 people intercepted by immigration officials. 

Though the number has gone down somewhat to 192,001 in September, the most recent data available, it’s still significantly higher than the roughly 52,000 migrants encountered during the same period in 2020. 

Meanwhile Biden has yet to visit the southern border and Vice President Kamala Harris, who he dubbed his border czar, hasn’t been there since June. 

The president acknowledged his absence in late October at a CNN town hall, stating ‘I guess I should go down.’ 

By contrast he appears to be taking swift action on the migrant crisis aggravating tensions between the European Union and Belarus’s authoritarian government.

Migrants walk along a road in a caravan heading to the northern border, in Santo Domingo Zanatepec, Mexico November 10

Abbott said Texas’ government was working to secure the border without the Biden administration’s help

Western governments in the EU and NATO accused Belarusian strongman dictator Alexander Lukashenko of luring migrants to his country and sending them to cross into Poland in retaliation for sanctions over his government’s human rights abuses. 

Those migrants, primarily from the Middle East and Africa, are hoping to cross into the European Union through Poland but subjected to brutal treatment by Belarusian troops and violence from Polish forces as well.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin lent fresh support to Lukashenko today by sending nuclear bombers to carry out drills in Belarusian airspace for the second day in a row. 

The European Union is preparing to widen the existing sanctions over what it called an ‘attack’ on western democracies. 

Lukashenko hit back with threats to cut off Europe’s gas supply. 

Late on Wednesday it was announced the Biden administration is readying a set of ‘follow up sanctions’ to support its European partners.

‘We are deeply concerned by the Lukashenko regime’s inhumane actions and strongly condemn their callous exploitation and coercion of vulnerable people,’ a National Security Council spokesman told CNN. 

Migrants in a tent camp on the Belarusian-Polish border on November 11

Migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere warm up at the fire gathering at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Thursday. The Biden administration announced it’s preparing to possibly sanction Belarus for weaponizing desperate migrants

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Biden at the White House for a wide-ranging discussion that included the recent crisis.

After the meeting she told reporters that they both ‘share the opinion that this is a hybrid attack of an authoritarian regime to try and de-stabilize Democratic neighbors.’  

‘This will not succeed. We will protect our democracies,’ von der Leyen said.

Part of their agreement on the matter was to reach out to the countries the refugees are coming from to caution them ‘to not fall into the trap of the Lukashenko regime.’

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis similarly pointed out a double standard between Biden’s swift response to Europe’s crisis and relative silence domestically. 

DeSantis’ office accused Biden’s administration of ‘refus[ing] to enforce America’s immigration laws’ on Wednesday. 

‘It is absurd that Biden can express concern about a border halfway across the world, while he turns a blind eye to the illegal migration crisis in our own backyard,’ DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told DailyMail.com.