Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines | Facebook/Don Huffines
Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines | Facebook/Don Huffines
Del Rio Border Patrol Agents apprehended 2,200 people attempting to enter the country illegally over New Year's weekend, according to Breitbart News.
This comes as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports that border patrol agent encounters with people trying to enter the U.S. illegally between Oct. 1, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021, rose to 1.956 million, up from 646,822 during the previous year.
“Our state is under invasion. Thousands of illegal aliens cross every day. Even the ones who are apprehended are released. This must end. It’s time for a courageous governor of Texas who doesn’t ask permission from the federal government. We must detain and deport illegals," gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines told the El Paso Standard.
Illegal immigration and drug trafficking may be closely related. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 10,586 pounds of fentanyl at the Southwest U.S. border in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California -- or 132% more than the 4,558 pounds of fentanyl seized in 2021.
At the same time, in the year between March 2020 and April 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports there were 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the U.S.
Huffines' opponent is the current governor of Texas, Greg Abbott. Elected in 2014, Abbott is currently serving as the 48th governor of Texas. Before being elected governor, Abbott was the longest-serving attorney general of Texas.
During his time, Abbott aimed to fill in areas he believed the Biden administration had neglected on immigration enforcement, including directives to build additional barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, to ramp up arrests of unauthorized immigrants by state and local police, and to revoke licenses of shelters in Texas that house unaccompanied child migrants for the federal government.
Huffines will face Abbott in the gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, March 1. From 2015 to 2019, he represented Texas' 16th State Senate District. Huffines is the CEO of Huffines Communities, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based real estate development firm.
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