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| EFE |
Texas will build a military camp on its border with Mexico that will house up to 1,800 soldiers from the Texas National Guard deployed to assist with border security, Governor Greg Abbott announced on Friday.
The camp would be built in the Eagle Pass area, the same border zone where the Republican governor ordered the placement of a buoy barrier on the Rio Grande, leading to a dispute with President Joe Biden's administration.
In a press conference from the location where the camp will be constructed, Abbott said the project was a win-win situation, referring to the well-being of the soldiers assigned to the border and the work they perform.
"This will increase the capacity of a larger number of Texas Military Department personnel in Eagle Pass to operate more effectively and efficiently," Abbott emphasized.
The new facilities will accommodate up to 1,800 soldiers from the Texas National Guard, who have been living in atypical conditions since they were assigned border duties as part of Operation Lone Star, launched by Abbott in 2021.
The camp will also have the capacity to house an additional 500 soldiers in case there is a need to deploy the Texas Tactical Border Force in that area.
The Republican governor justified the construction of the camp given the scale of the operation and the need to expand it. "It will be good for them (the soldiers), improve living conditions, and maintain very strong morale," he said.
The first phase, which will provide around 300 beds, is expected to be completed by April.
"As we all know, when spring comes, there will be additional caravans making their way through the southern and central parts of Mexico... We want to make sure that when they reach the crossroads of whether to go to Texas or elsewhere, they know that the wrong place to go is the state of Texas," Abbott warned.
The camp is part of a broader effort by Abbott to try to prevent migrants from crossing the border illegally into Texas, which has led him to place barbed wire and a buoy barrier in the Rio Grande, a measure criticized by the government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The Texas government also recently took control of a municipal park in Eagle Pass, where Border Patrol agents are not allowed to enter to process migrants crossing the river, and they plan to install more barriers.