As of September 12, the state of Texas has raised a little over $55 million to secure the southern border and build a wall, which was one of the main issues former President Trump ran on in 2016.
"While securing the border is the federal government's responsibility, Texas will not sit idly by as this crisis grows. Texas is responding with the most robust and comprehensive border plan the nation has ever seen," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement.
Biden's open-door immigration policies have led to a drug crisis and a humanitarian crisis, according to Gov. Abbott's statement.
"The State of Texas is working collaboratively with communities impacted by the border crisis to arrest and detain individuals coming into Texas illegally," Abbott's statement reads. "Our efforts will only be effective if we work together to secure the border, make criminal arrests, protect landowners, rid our communities of dangerous drugs, and provide Texans with the support they need and deserve."
Besides raising money for a border wall, Abbott has signed legislation which designated Mexican drug cartels as domestic terrorists, and has called on President Joe Biden to do the same.
"Fentanyl is a clandestine killer, and Texans are falling victim to the Mexican cartels that are producing it,” said Governor Abbott in a statement. "Cartels are terrorists, and it's time we treated them that way. In fact, more Americans died from fentanyl poisoning in the past year than all terrorist attacks across the globe in the past 100 years. In order to save our country, particularly our next generation, we must do more to get fentanyl off our streets.”
As of now, Biden has not responded to Abbott's request to designate Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations.
