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Abbott has clashed with Democratic President Joe Biden over the
state's aggressive tactics to deter those crossing, including
troops, concertina wire and a floating buoy barrier in the Rio
Grande.
The Biden administration has maintained that border control
falls strictly under federal jurisdiction, but Abbott has
deployed the Texas National Guard at Shelby Park in the border
town of Eagle Pass, where he staged Sunday's news conference
along with Republican governors from 13 other states.
They stood in front of Texas state military vehicles, just paces
away from shipping containers and concertina wire that block
access to the park along the Rio Grande.
Abbott said Shelby Park, which has been at the center of a
standoff between state and federal officials, "is going stay
under control as long as it takes to maintain security and to
eliminate crossings."
"We can relinquish control of it tomorrow if Joe Biden were to
step up and do exactly what we're doing here and stop people
from crossing the border illegally," Abbott told reporters.
As he spoke, activists from opposite sites of the issue staged
competing protests a short distance from the park. Several dozen
immigrant rights activists and people opposed to illegal
immigration demonstrated without incident.
Four of the other governors spoke at the news conference: Bill
Lee of Tennessee, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Greg Gianforte of
Montana and Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas. They took turns
accusing Biden of being weak on border security.
Immigration has become a potent political issue in the run-up to
Nov. 5 elections that will likely pit Biden against former
President Donald Trump.
Trump has motivated his voting base with calls for more
restrictive border policies. His critics say such policies and
events such as a migrant convoy that preceded the rally could
stoke tensions.
The governors gathered one day after hundreds of protesters from
around the U.S. on Saturday flocked to the Texas border town of
Quemado, about 20 miles (32 km) from Eagle Pass, to vent over
illegal immigration and show support for Trump at a rally that
blended border politics with religious rhetoric.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Eagle Pass; Writing by Daniel Trotta;
Editing by Diane Craft)
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