Texas Gov. Abbott warns that unlawful immigration increases risks of terrorist attacks

Gov. Greg Abbott, speaking to a friendly audience at a conservative think tank's conference Wednesday, piggybacked on comments by FBI Director Christopher Wray to a congressional panel this month and warned that a terrorist attack could be carried out in the United States by people crossing into Texas from Mexico without legal authorization.

"You cannot have the number of people coming across the border who are terrorists and not expect anything different," Abbott told the Texas Public Policy Foundation at its annual summit in Austin.

The remark was a variation on Abbott's oft-repeated criticism that President Joe Biden and his administration are not doing enough to stem the flow of migrants crossing into Texas and other southern border states.

Wray, who was appointed to his post in 2017 by former President Donald Trump, told the Senate Intelligence Committee on March 11 that he is “very concerned” that a human smuggling network with ties to ISIS terrorists is crossing undetected into the country at the southern border. Although Abbott suggested a threat is imminent, or at least likely, Wray was more circumspect, saying investigators had not uncovered any specific plot.

“Exactly what that network is up to is something that’s, again, the subject of our current investigation,” Wray told the Senate panel.

Abbott was the keynote speaker to open the foundation's three-day gathering at the AT&T Conference Center on the University of Texas campus. As he often does during his public appearances, the three-term Republican touted his own efforts at the border, which include the installation of hundreds of miles of razor wire and the deployment of thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers as part of his $11 billion Operation Lone Star security initiative.

He made reference to the fast-moving court action on Senate Bill 4, which was passed by the Legislature in its fourth special session last year, that would allow state law enforcement officials to arrest, detain and deport people suspected of entering Texas from Mexico without legal authorization.

Late Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court extended its hold on allowing the law to take effect. On Tuesday, however, the high court lifted that hold, pending additional review by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which late Tuesday night then reinstated the hold.

"It's like watching a tennis match," joked Abbott. "The ball goes back and forth across the net constantly."

At an event closed to print reporters (cameras were allowed in) at the Capitol about an hour after the foundation's event, Abbott met with members of the Texas Sheriffs Association where border and immigration issues were topics of discussion.

At his public appearance, the governor also used his address to tout his backing of challengers in the March 5 primaries to incumbent House Republicans who opposed legislation to establish a school voucher program for parents seeking alternatives to public K-12 education. Abbott said he counts 74 Republican votes in the 150-member House in support of what he calls "school choice," a program that would use public money to pay for private schooling.

Since Democrats have historically opposed diverting tax dollars from local school districts, Abbott told the policy foundation members he needs them to support school choice candidates in the May 28 runoffs to ensure a school choice proposal makes it across the finish line when lawmakers return to Austin in January.

"This is not a time for you to sit on the sidelines and applaud the success that you've achieved," Abbott said. "This is a time when all of us must come together."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warns of potential terrorist attack by migrants