Editor’s note: The above video shows KXAN News’ top morning headlines from Friday, Feb. 23, 2024.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — During a campaign event, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott joked about building a wall between Texas and Oklahoma to stop the spread of the “radical woke, left agenda.”
The event took place Feb. 15 in Lumberton, Texas, to support Janis Holt, a Republican running for the Texas House of Representatives, according to Newsweek.
While addressing supporters, Abbott noted “challenges” that Texas faced, which included the “radical woke, left agenda that we see crisscrossing the United States, and even coming across the border of the Red River.” The Red River creates part of the border between Texas and Oklahoma.
Abbott continued by joking, “I’ll get around to talking about the border, but some people say, ‘Abbott, you need to build a border wall on the border with Oklahoma to stop all this stuff from coming in.'”
Newsweek said Abbott’s remark caused widespread laughter from those gathered to hear him speak.
Texas’ legal fight at U.S.-Mexico border
In November 2023, Abbott declared an “invasion” at the Texas-Mexico border under Articles in the U.S. Constitution, which he said reserved the state the right of self-defense from illegal immigration.
Last summer, Abbott announced the state was installing razor wire and buoys along a part of the border in an attempt to deter migrants from crossing the Rio Grande River into the U.S.
Texas then faced legal concerns over its deployment of the buoys, which included a possibility that they violated various water treaties between Mexico and the U.S. as well as safety and environmental concerns.
In December 2023, a federal appeals court ordered Texas to move the floating barrier to the riverbank.
“It considered the threat to navigation and federal government operations on the Rio Grande, as well as the potential threat to human life the floating barrier created,” Judge Dana Douglas wrote in the opinion.
The U.S. Supreme Court also later allowed Border Patrol agents to cut down the razor wire Texas installed along a stretch of the border.
Abbott’s spokesman said the absence of the deterrents would encourage migrants to risk unsafe crossings and make the job of Texas border personnel more difficult.
In January, Abbott reiterated his stance that Texas had the constitutional right to defend and protect the border saying Texas would hold firm, and vowed Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers would continue to use tactics to keep out people trying to illegally enter the state.
The acts appeared to be part of an continuing standoff between the Biden administration and Texas over immigration enforcement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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