“I’m using that constitutional authority, & other authorization & Executive Orders to keep our state & country safe,” Abbott said in a tweet.

he governor, who was reelected last week, plans to take a variety of actions, including deploying the National Guard to repel and turn back immigrants he says are trying to cross the border illegally, sending the Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest and return border immigrants who did so and building a border wall in multiple counties.

He also plans to deploy gun boats to secure the border, designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, enter into agreements with other states and foreign powers to enhance border security and send resources to border counties to help them respond to the “border invasion.”

Enhancing border security was a key issue for Abbott’s reelection campaign against Democrat Beto O’Rourke. Abbott won that race comfortably by about 11 points.

The Biden administration has faced criticism for the situation at the southern border as the U.S. has seen historically high levels of people crossing the border over the past fiscal year.

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