‘Extraordinary danger’: Greg Abbott spotlights Chinese nationals entering US-Mexico border
52,700 migrants from China entered the US in FY2023
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called out President Biden’s "open border" policies, saying they pose an "existential threat" to the U.S. Therefore, he said, Texas takes on the responsibility of handling the border with measures like the buoys along the Rio Grande.
PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS 'NO CLEAR WINS' ON BORDER POLICY, IMMIGRATION ADVOCATES SAY
GOV. GREG ABBOTT: …it is extraordinarily dangerous because, first of all, as you point out, we have people from China coming here. We also have people on the known terrorist watch list who are coming across the border. And so there's extraordinary dangers, calls to our country by Biden's open border policies. And obviously, Biden is doing nothing about it. And that's why Texas has to step up and apprehend as many of these people as possible to make sure that they're not posing a threat to our country. But this is a very serious existential threat to our country caused by Joe Biden. And that's exactly why Texas is taking extraordinary steps to try to crack down on it.
THOUSANDS OF CHINESE NATIONALS, GOTAWAYS AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER SINCE OCT 1: SOURCES
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Migrants walk by a string of buoys placed on the water along the Rio Grande border with Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 16, 2023. The buoy installation is part of an operation Texas is pursuing to secure its borders, but activists and some legislators say Governor Greg Abbott is exceeding his authority. (SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)
Thousands of Chinese nationals have hit the southern border since the beginning of the fiscal year, along with hundreds of Afghans and other nationalities, while there have been thousands of "gotaways" who have evaded Border Patrol – as the U.S. tackles a migrant crisis that is global in scope and has renewed national security concerns.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources told Fox News that since Oct. 1 there were over 6,500 Chinese nationals encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border, along with over 700 Afghans.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FOX News' Adam Shaw and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.