Abbott made border security a central theme of his reelection campaign and easily ousted Democrat Beta O’Rourke during the November 8 midterm elections. In the months leading up to the election, Abbott took a staunch stance against illegal immigrants by authorizing the Texas National Guard and the state’s Department of Public Safety to return apprehended migrants back to the Mexico border. Abbott has been one of the biggest critics of President Joe Biden’s border policies, which the White House said “is working to rebuild our immigration system after four years of chaos and mismanagement,” on its website.

Abbott’s office has previously said that inadequate border protections led to smuggled drugs, weapons and people into the United States, namely Texas. He launched Operation Lone Star in 2021, which attempted to combat the smuggling by integrating the Texas National Guard with the DPS to deploy various security measures to areas along the Texas-Mexico border.

On Monday, Abbott issued a letter to county judges along the Texas-Mexico border criticizing the Biden administration’s efforts and outlining his plan to secure the border. Texas taxpayers have already spent $4 billion for the state’s border protection efforts, according to the letter.

“Sent a letter assuring county judges that the State of Texas will continue taking unprecedented action to address Pres. Biden’s border crisis,” the governor’s Twitter page tweeted Monday. “Until the federal government does its job & secures the border, Texas will forcefully respond to this crisis.”

Abbott’s letter said the governor invoked the Invasion Clauses, which authorizes the Lone Star State to “take unprecedented measures to fight back against the invasion at our border.” The Invasion Clauses allow for a National Guard deployment along the border. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) also will be deployed to arrest illegal immigrants and return them to the border.

Abbott also outlined infrastructure plans, such as plans to build a border wall through several Texas counties along the border and deploy gun boats. Gun boats are naval watercraft designed to carry weapons used in bombarding coastal targets. Texas and Mexico both border the Gulf of Mexico.

Under the Invasion Clauses, Mexican drug cartels will be designated as foreign terrorist organizations.

Biden’s border protection efforts include trying to establish “lawful pathways for individuals to migrate or seek protection, address the root causes of migration, restore fair, orderly and humane means to apply for asylum and deter irregular migration,” according to the White House website. The White House website also said the administration has made “significant progress” to secure the border, a claim that Abbott disagrees with.

“Texas has forcefully responded to Biden’s open border policies by doing more than any state in the history of America to do the federal government’s job to secure the border,” the letter said. “Texas has done more than its fair share for far too long. The time has come for the federal government to do its job.”

Abbott’s actions garnered support and criticism on social media, with some criticism being that his efforts weren’t strong enough.

“Unless Tx puts invaders back into Mexico, NOT ’take them to the border,’ & NOT ‘hand them over to CBP’, their efforts will drive down Tx border crossing numbers as much as Op Lone Star, ie, NONE,” former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli tweeted.

Texas Civil Rights Project tweeted against Abbott’s proposal while gathering in Washington, D.C., to protest Operation Lone Star.

“We are appalled by @GovAbbott’s flaunting his declaration of an ‘invasion’ in our state,” Texas Civil Rights Project tweeted. “Abbott’s militarization of Texas’ border communities is is [sic] bringing chaos to once peaceful border communities.”

Newsweek reached out to Abbott’s office for comment. Newsweek also reached out to Todd Bensman, a former counterterrorism intelligence programs specialist for the Texas DPS.