Web Desk
Texas plans to shut down one of the two jail booking facilities it established along the U.S.-Mexico border as part of its $11 billion border security initiative.
Governor Greg Abbott announced on Monday that the facility has been offered to the Trump administration.
The state opened the Jim Hogg County facility in 2022 to process individuals arrested for border-related crimes, such as criminal trespass, following an increase in Department of Public Safety troopers along the border.
Another facility in Val Verde County will remain operational.
In a statement, Abbott credited former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies for reducing border crossings, which he said made it possible to close the facility by April.
“Thanks to President Trump, illegal border crossings are at record lows. Unlike under President Joe Biden, the Trump administration is swiftly deporting illegal immigrants,” Abbott stated.
“As a result, Texas no longer needs to operate the Jim Hogg County booking facility. We will continue supporting the Trump administration in arresting, detaining, and deporting illegal immigrants.”
Border crossings dropped last summer after President Biden issued an executive order restricting asylum applications, requiring migrants to remain in Mexico until securing an appointment with immigration authorities.
Since Trump took office and implemented stricter immigration policies, including discontinuing a phone app used for asylum appointments, crossings have declined further.
Abbott has consistently credited Operation Lone Star, launched in March 2021, for the decrease in border crossings. However, immigration experts argue that migration patterns are influenced by multiple factors, including global poverty and violence, rather than a single policy.
