New Mexico Governor Criticizes Texas for Razor Wire Installation at Border
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has expressed her discontent with the Texas National Guard’s recent installation of razor wire along the Rio Grande River, facing New Mexico.
Video footage captured by Nexstar’s KTSM shows troops setting up concertina wire and fencing on the riverbank near El Paso, Texas. The expansion comes after Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced plans to triple the state’s border barriers to prevent illegal entry into Texas and the U.S.
Governor Grisham responded to Abbott’s actions, stating, “Gov. Abbott seems to be pushing to make Texas its own country without regard for his neighbors or the fact that Texas is already part of a great nation—the United States.” She further emphasized the interconnectedness between the two states, particularly in regard to the Permian Basin and the shared oil industry, pointing out that Abbott has not extended the wire to that region.
This is not the first time Texas has acted on concerns about illegal smuggling from New Mexico spilling into the state. Earlier this year, Texas extended its border barriers in a section where the Rio Grande stops running parallel to Mexico and turns north into New Mexico.
The current New Mexico-facing razor wire barrier runs from West Paisano Drive to the Texas side of the Anapra, New Mexico bridge between El Paso and Sunland Park. The area near Sunland Park is a known hotspot for migrant smuggling, with the Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station being one of the busiest in the nation. Many of the 171 migrant deaths recorded in the current fiscal year have occurred in this desert region.
