Gov. Greg Abbott praises White House border visit, urges legal and military steps to reduce crossings

Governor Greg Abbott said a visit by the vice president and other federal officials to the Texas-Mexico border demonstrated progress in enforcement but that more legal and military measures are needed to reduce illegal crossings further.

"Well, for one, it's great to have a vice president who actually comes to the border and sees what's going on," Abbott said, describing a roundtable where Texas officials showed what the state had done and discussed recent numbers for February that Abbott called "all time record lows" in illegal crossings. He added that the vice president asked what could be done to "cut that in half then cut it in half again."

Abbott repeated a numerical claim about removals, saying, "99 of them are actually returned back across the border or to whatever country they came from," and argued that the Trump administration's approach creates consequences for entering the country illegally. He said the meeting included discussion of taking legal action, naming former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as an example of who would be involved, and noted that the presence of defense and intelligence officials signaled a military and intelligence component to enforcement efforts. "We gotta find them and arrest them and put them behind bars," he said, referring to people he described as "known terrorists" who, he alleged, had crossed the border under President Biden.

The program's introduction named several attendees by title; that introduction incorrectly identified some individuals' official roles. The broadcast said "secretary of defense Pete Hegseth" and "director of national intelligence called Tulsi Gabbard." Public records do not support those titles for those two names; the interview and Abbott's comments refer more generally to defense and intelligence officials present at the border meeting.

The host also contrasted current cooperation with earlier years, saying Texas had used state funds to secure the border while the federal government had sued the state and asserted that the border was secure. When asked what should come next, Abbott emphasized legal avenues for action and closer coordination with federal defense and intelligence resources but did not outline specific operational steps, timelines, or the legal mechanisms he proposed.

The interview closed with the host remarking on a political tactic — moving migrants to sanctuary cities and states — noting it as a controversial strategy used in recent years; Abbott did not provide further details on implementation. No formal federal actions or new policies were announced during the segment.