The State of Texas expanded its use of shipping containers to aid in securing the border in El Paso by placing nearly a dozen containers along the Rio Grande in addition to more than a mile of razor-wire fencing.
Officials with the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) said that Governor Greg Abbott ordered the placement of more than a dozen shipping containers along the border in El Paso on Tuesday. The governor ordered the containers be placed by TDEM at locations identified by the Texas Military Department and the Department of Public Safety, TDEM spokesman Seth Christensen told Breitbart Texas. The agency hinted that more could be on the way.
“At the direction of Governor Abbott, almost a dozen containers have been initially placed, along with over a mile of fencing, in locations in the El Paso sector as determined by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard, and they will remain as long as necessary to impede the flow of illegal immigrants into Texas communities,” TDEM officials said in a written statement provided to Breitbart Texas.
The shipping containers and concertina wire fencing are being placed in El Paso under Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star. The state began building barriers along the border after El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a disaster and requested state and federal assistance. As migrants slept on the streets in the frigid temperatures from the polar vortex over the Christmas holiday weekend, the El Paso City Council voted to extend the disaster declaration for another 30 days.
Following the initial disaster declaration in El Paso, the Texas Military Department deployed more than 400 members of the state’s National Guard to begin border security operations, Breitbart Texas reported. The soldiers immediately went to work building triple-layer razor-wire fencing along the Rio Grande in frequent migrant crossing areas.
By the end of the Christmas weekend, soldiers built approximately two miles of border fencing.
Major General Ronald “Win” Burkett described the 72-hour mission for the Guardsmen.
“They’re focused on deterrence, they’re focused on sending a message that unlawful crossings is not an option,” General Burkett stated. “You’ve got to go to the POE (Port of Entry).”
The general described the logistics of the operation with the Texas Air National Guard airlifting 400 soldiers and equipment to El Paso in four C-130 aircraft on Saturday morning.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX
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