The facility - dubbed Forward Operating Base Eagle - will be an
80-acre complex along the banks of the Rio Grande and house up
to 1,800 troops, with the ability to expand to 2,300, Governor
Greg Abbott said at a press conference.
Record numbers of migrants have crossed illegally into the
United States since President Joe Biden took office in 2021,
including several million crossing into Texas. Abbott has
deployed thousands of state-controlled National Guard troops to
deter migrants and built a makeshift border wall in Eagle Pass
out of shipping containers and concertina wire.
U.S. immigration enforcement historically has been the
responsibility of the federal government and Abbott's moves to
secure the border have triggered legal standoffs with Biden's
administration.
The new military base will be six miles south of Shelby Park, a
city-owned area that the state of Texas has commandeered in an
effort to block migrants.
"Because of the magnitude of what we're doing, because of the
need to sustain and actually expand our efforts ... it's
essential that we build this base camp," Abbott said.
The camp will allow Texas to "amass a large army in a very
strategic area" and "increase the speed and flexibility of the
Texas National Guard to be able to respond to crossings," Abbott
said.
The base camp will feature a 700-person dining facility, on-site
movie theaters, workout areas and medical services, officials
said. The state also intends to install more barriers north and
south of Shelby Park, they said.
Biden, a Democrat, is seeking another four-year term in the Nov.
5 election, where he is likely to face off against Republican
former President Donald Trump, an immigration hardliner.
Republicans fault Biden for record numbers of migrants trying to
cross illegally and say he should have kept Trump's restrictive
policies. Biden says he is creating a more humane and orderly
system and that Republicans have refused to fund border security
for political reasons.
A new Texas law is set to take effect on March 5 that allows
Texas state authorities to arrest and deport people suspected of
crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, testing the legal
limits of the state's authority.
The U.S. Department of Justice and civil rights groups have sued
to stop the law from going into effect.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Mary
Milliken, Deepa Babington and Diane Craft)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.

|
|