Video of Texas “holding the line” at border goes viral

A video clip that captures Texas law enforcement reinforcing razor wire along its state’s southern border has gone viral on Twitter in the wake of Title 42’s expiration.

The 1944 health measure was enacted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic during the administration of then-President Donald Trump as a method to control the number of border crossings. Title 42 allows U.S. officials to expel migrants without going through a formal asylum process in order to prevent the spread of diseases.

However, after President Joe Biden signed a measure declaring May 11 as the end of the COVID-19 emergency in the U.S., Title 42 expired, beginning Thursday evening. Critics of the president’s decision feared that without Title 42 in place, chaos could ensue in already overwhelmed border communities, prompting some Southern states to announce their own plans ahead of the policy’s end date.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has been one of the staunchest critics of Biden’s decision to end Title 42, announced this week that he was sending hundreds of members of his state’s National Guard to “border hotspots” to help repel “illegal crossings.” Videos shared by Abbott on Wednesday showed Texas personnel putting up razor wire along the state’s southern border as a deterrent against migrants from crossing in mass numbers.

On Thursday, roughly seven hours before Title 42 would officially be lifted, Abbott shared another video of the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Safety (DPS) affixing additional razor wire in the face of a group of migrants who had gathered along the other side of the fence dividing Texas and Mexico.

As of Friday evening, Abbott’s video had reached over 2.2 million views.

“Thanks to the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety,” Abbott wrote alongside the 30-second-clip. “They are the only officials in America holding the line against an onrush of illegal immigrants.”

Abbott continued to attack the Biden administration’s reaction to the end of Title 42 on Friday, tweeting, “President Biden wants to roll out the welcome mat for illegal immigrants. The elite Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers I deployed will be there to stop them.”

The White House has taken steps to help manage the anticipated surge, including Biden deploying 1,500 active troops ahead of Thursday to assist border patrol and local law enforcement agents.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has also stated that under the administration’s new policy, anyone arriving at the southern border without an asylum appointment or another legal path of entry would be assumed ineligible for asylum.

“Do not believe the lies of smugglers. The border is not open,” Mayorkas said in a statement Thursday evening. “People who do not use available lawful pathways to enter the U.S. now face tougher consequences, including a minimum five-year ban on re-entry and potential criminal prosecution.”

On Friday, DHS official Blas Nunez-Neto told reporters that officials “continue to encounter high levels of non-citizens at the border, but we did not see a substantial increase overnight or an influx at midnight,” according to Reuters.

Newsweek has reached out to DHS for comment via email for comment on Abbott’s statements.

Reuters reported Friday that “hundreds” of migrants had slept overnight Thursday along the Texas southern border near the city of El Paso, awaiting entry into the U.S. By Friday, however, the group had formed a single-file line to be brought into the U.S. and processed by authorities.

El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser told reporters Friday that his adjacent city in Mexico, Ciudad Juarez, had seen a “very smooth transition” since lifting Title 42, according to a report from The New York Times.

However, Leeser was still cautious about how the change in immigration policies would play out, telling reporters that the thousands of migrants detained in border patrol holding facilities are expected to be released in the coming days.

“We know this is just the beginning,” Leeser added.