EAGLE PASS, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday announced the state is installing a military base near Eagle Pass, a border town that sees frequent migrant crossings and is the epicenter of the state’s enforcement battle with the Biden administration.

What You Need To Know

  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday announced construction is underway on a Texas Department of Military base camp that will be located about six miles from Eagle Pass

  • Eagle Pass is a border city that has seen a great deal of border crossings and is the epicenter of Texas' battle with the Biden administration over enforcement

  • Abbott said the camp will be constructed over 80 acres and include dining facilities and individual rooms for National Guard soldiers 

  • On the same day as Abbott’s announcement, Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, introduced a bill that would reimburse Texas for its border enforcement efforts from 2000 to 2023

Abbott said the first phase of construction is already underway.

“To expand our border security capabilities, we are building a new Texas Military Department base camp that allows the Texas National Guard to increase and to improve operations in this area,” he said during a news briefing in Eagle Pass.

Abbott said the camp will be constructed over 80 acres.

“This will increase the ability for a larger number of Texas Department of Military personnel in Eagle Pass to operate more effectively and more efficiently,” Abbott said. “It will house up to 1,800 soldiers with the ability to expand up to 2,300 if we have surge needs.”

Abbott said the camp will include a dining facility and individual rooms for troops as well as recreational facilities and Wi-Fi. Abbott said that National Guard soldiers have been scattered across the region and confined to cramped quarters.

The camp will be constructed in phases of 300 beds every 30 days with the first phase expected to be completed by April, said Maj. General Suelzer, the head of the Texas Military Department.

Abbott’s news may not be welcomed by all Eagle Pass residents. Just last week, a group of residents called on the governor to relinquish control of Shelby Park. The park was closed to the public in January. The Texas National Guard has also blocked Border Patrol from entering the park.

“It (camp) will amass a large army at a very strategic area. It will increase the speed and flexibility of the Texas National Guard to be able to respond to crossings,” Abbott said. “We all know what’s been going on in Shelby Park.”

Abbott said the camp will also accommodate the expansion of physical barriers the state has placed along the border in and around Eagle Pass.

“This will organize substantial forces also to expand the razor wire barriers that are going up. We’ve seen the effectiveness of the razor wire in Shelby Park, where crossings have gone from 3,000 or 4,000 or 5,000 people a day to less than 1% of that crossing illegally per day,” he said.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that the Biden administration can cut that wire as the legal battle over it continues.

On the same day as Abbott’s announcement, Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, announced a bill that would reimburse Texas for its border enforcement efforts from 2000 to 2023. That would be up to $4 billion.

The camp will be located about six miles from Shelby Park.