WESLACO, Texas — At a briefing Thursday on border security, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott railed against the White House while applauding his own response to the surge in illegal crossings. This took place a day after Democratic state lawmakers asked the federal government to investigate the governor’s controversial border enforcement initiative. 

“It is astonishing that one lawbreaker that we are having to wage legal action against is the president of the United States,” Abbott said.

The governor was joined by state Attorney General Ken Paxton and nearly a dozen attorneys general from across the country. Abbott proposed to them an action item to crack down on TikTok and social media companies for having human trafficking content on their platforms. 

Displeased with the Biden administration’s approach to the southern border, Abbott also touted the state’s efforts to respond to the surge of migrant crossings. That includes the state legislature appropriating $3 billion in taxpayer dollars to border security, as well as Operation Lone Star, Abbott’s controversial initiative to arrest and detain migrants on charges of criminal trespassing. The goal of the program is to combat drug and human smuggling. 

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The governor, who is running for reelection, has deployed 10,000 Texas National Guard soldiers to carry it out.

“Texas is stepping up to do the federal government’s job. We’re not going to sit idly by while (President) Joe Biden refuses to enforce the law. Texas is going to do everything needed for Texas to step up and secure the border,” Abbott said. 

But Texas Democrats call Operation Lone Star unconstitutional and are demanding federal investigation. On Wednesday, 50 House members sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice. They are seizing on reports of National Guard soldiers on the border dying by or attempting suicide, as well as enduring poor living conditions and not being paid on time.

State Rep. Alex Dominguez, D-Brownsville, believes the lack of clear guidance is affecting morale.

“Just imagine what this will do to recruiting for the next class of Guardsmen when they think, ‘Why am I going to sign up for this when I could be sent to the Texas border for a year or more at a time and they can’t even guarantee that I’m going to get paid?’” Dominguez said. “We need to be cognizant of that and make sure that we have a good policy approach so that their mission coincides with a greater strategy and not one that is really seemingly gimmicky. The reason why I say that is if this mission was so legitimate, why parade the number of other politicians from other states?” 

In a statement to Capital Tonight, Nan Tolson, Abbott’s spokesperson, said in part, “It comes as no surprise that Texas Democrats who support President Biden’s reckless and dangerous open border policies disagree with Gov. Abbott’s resolve to do the president’s job and actually try to secure the border.”

“Texas Democrats should applaud what the Texas National Guard has done to make their districts safer for their constituents,” the statement went on to say.

All 13 Democrats in the Texas Congressional Delegation have called for similar investigations. As recently as a couple of weeks ago, the Democrats sent a letter to the Texas Military Department. 

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, in a tweet called Abbott’s operation a “political stunt” and “demonstrate[s] that he doesn’t have our troops’ best interest in mind.” 

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, noted that over the years, the federal government has already spent billions of dollars on strengthening security on the border. 

“What we didn’t do is we never did the other part, which was to provide a pathway to citizenship for folks and families that have been here a long time, that have been working hard, that have stayed out of trouble, that have been productive members of American society,” Castro told Capital Tonight. 

As the Biden administration remains under fire as crossings along the southern border reach a record high, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is in Texas this week meeting with key stakeholders. Mayorkas sat down with El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego Thursday. 

After the meeting, Samaniego told Spectrum News that the secretary was open, willing to remain engaged in a dialogue about the county’s ongoing needs and wanted to ensure they have adequate funding. 

“We need resources. We’re in a very critical point in the immigration agencies, because of the omicron virus is spreading fast,” Samaniego said. “We also need to know how do we move the, you know, our migrants in the most respectful, best quality way that we can. So you need more bus services, you need more accessibility to transportation, you need resources.”