MUST WATCH: Gov. Greg Abbott Joins the Guy Benson Show to Talk DOJ Lawsuit, Kamala Harris’ Border Lie

Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas (R), joined the Guy Benson Show to discuss Texas and the border crisis. Guy and Greg also discuss the lawsuit that has been filed by the DOJ against Texas regarding the U.S.-Mexico Border.

Watch the interview below:

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Full transcript:

Guy Benson: But joining us right now as we begin our show is the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, a Republican governor. Welcome back to the show.

Gov. Abbott: Hey, Guy. Great to be back.

Guy Benson: I want to pick your brain about this battle that’s now brewing in court between your state and the federal government. The Biden administration, they are suing you over immigration enforcement. Give us some background on what happened here and why you’re prepared to fight this fight.

Gov. Abbott: So what’s happened is over the course of the past year, Texas has been building barriers. Some of them made out of these container ship barriers, some of them made out of Constantino razor wire. Others made out of other materials, as well as Texas building his own border wall. And these barriers have been able to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing into Texas, from crossing into the United States. Then more recently, we deployed what are called buoys that are in the water. And they are that the buoys themselves are about 4 to 5 feet high and impossible to climb over. And under the buoys is a fence like material that prevents people from swimming under it. And with the deployment of those buoys that prevent illegal immigrants from even making it across the middle part of the Rio Grande River, it just raised the ire of Democrat members of the United States Congress, the president of Mexico, as well as environmentalists and others. And they just demanded that the Biden administration take legal action against the state of Texas. And in Texas, we said, bring it. This is exactly the type of situation we want to be in, and we’re more than happy to litigate this matter. All the while, we are maintaining the boys in the water, stopping people from coming across the border. But I got to tell you this, know, you would think that as opposed to filing a lawsuit against us, the Biden administration would send us a thank you note. They would thank us for doing what they are incapable of doing or maybe even send us a check for the money that Texas is spending out of Texas taxpayer pockets to do the federal government’s job.

Guy Benson: Yeah, but no chance. Right? Because they’re anti-enforcement. We’ve seen this over and over again. They are pro they are functionally pro-illegal immigration. We’ve learned that lesson to the tune of 7 million illegal crossings over the last two plus years. And it’s amazing. They sent out their derelict failing border czar, the vice president, to attack a couple of states, including yours. Here’s a taste of what Kamala Harris said just the other day. Cut 31.

Kamala Harris: Across our nation, extremist so-called leaders demonize, target and attack immigrants. Inhumane, outrageous and un-American.

Guy Benson: That last bit inhumane, outrageous, un-American was a specific reference to what you have done in Texas and these floating buoys and the the sort of floating wall in the river. What’s your response to that when you hear the vice president saying your efforts at enforcement and deterrence, crucially? Are those things inhumane, outrageous and even un-American?

Gov. Abbott: Well, it shows how uninformed the borders czar is who never really has been to the border and never has done anything to solve any border related issue because know these facts. But even before we put up these barriers back in 2021, the United Nations came out and said that the border between the United States and Mexico was the deadliest land border in the entire world. And that was under Joe Biden because of the number of people who were dying coming across the border under Joe Biden. The year after that, even more people died coming across the border. And you will remember the horrible situation just outside of San Antonio, Texas, where 53 people in the back of a trailer truck perished who were smuggled across the border. What Biden has done with his open border policies is the most inhumane act we’ve ever seen. A president of the United States take enticing people to risk their lives and lose their lives coming across the border illegally when instead the president could be enforcing the immigration laws of the United States and allowing those who are seeking asylum to come in, but keeping up those who are not legally authorized to come to the United States.

Guy Benson: Well, and this is the point. They have aggressively incentivized illegal immigration. You mentioned that example in the tractor trailer and that horrible case. We’ve seen hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of migrants dying in the desert, drowning in the river. When I was down in Texas at the border, you invited me. Your team governor invited me down there last year. And while I was there, there was a Texas National Guardsman who drowned to death, saving successfully… he saved two drug smugglers, but he died in the course of doing that. And the fact that you have seen so many people drown in that river with the current, it’s very dangerous to me. These floating barriers are clearly a deterrent. Don’t try to come across the river that is trying to save lives. That is humane to funnel people to ports of entry. But instead, we get comments like this from the White House press secretary in cut throw going after you. Listen.

KJP: As we’re talking about the governor, Governor Abbott, and what he has done his record on this, it is clear. It is clear how he impedes the process. He doesn’t help. He puts the lives of migrants at risk.

Guy Benson: He puts, talking about you, he puts the lives of migrants at risk. And Governor, it seems to me like the people doing that by far the most are the Biden administration officials with these policies that encourage people like a magnet to come here and go through the extremely dangerous process. They won’t enforce the law. They won’t disincentivize it. And they’re projecting in sort of this extremely ugly way onto you and your state.

Gov. Abbott: Guy, you’re spot on. And as you pointed out, the buoys that we’re putting up, the other measures that we are taking to inform both the migrants as well as the cartels, that Texas is not open for illegal immigrants to come across the border. That is reducing the number of people who would be crossing illegally. It is reducing the number of people who would be drowning under the policies that Joe Biden has put into place, making the border so dangerous. But the bigger picture is this. And that is four years ago, we had the fewest illegal border crossings in four decades under the Biden administration. We have an all time record high. Is the Biden administration, in their willfulness to have open borders, to invite people from 150 different countries across the globe to come across our border? It’s time to put that to a stop. It’s time to enforce the immigration laws of the United States of America.

Guy Benson: Last but not least, I know you’ve got to run, Gov, but this is going to go to court. You said bring it on. How confident are you, legally speaking, that you’re going to prevail?

Gov. Abbott: Just looking at the face of the statute that they are relying upon. We’re very confident that these buoys are not illegal in any way whatsoever. That said, we want the bigger battle, and that is we want to relitigate the Arizona v. the United States case so that we can get a new precedent from the United States Supreme Court to make clear that the state of Texas, as well as other states, have the full authority to protect the sovereignty of the United States by denying illegal entry into our country.

Guy Benson: Greg Abbott is the Republican governor of Texas. A lot to come on this front, obviously. Governor, thank you so much for your time.

Gov. Abbott: Thank you. Guy. Take care.