Texas National Guard Builds 2 Miles of Razor Wire Border Fencing near El Paso

While most families across the country celebrated the extended Christmas holiday weekend, members of the Texas National Guard built more than two miles of razor-wire border fencing near El Paso. Texas Governor Greg Abbott deployed the Guardsmen under Operation Lone Star to build the barriers after the City of El Paso declared a disaster as migrants surged across the border.

The Texas Military Department tweeted a video on Christmas Day showing the National Guard building a triple-strand concertina barrier “to secure the area from illegal crossings.”

Major General Ronald “Win” Burkett described the 72-hour mission for the Guardsmen.

“They’re focused on deterrence, they’re focused on sending a message that unlawful crossings is not an option,” General Burkett stated. “You’ve got to go to the POE (Port of Entry).”

The general described the logistics of the operation with the Texas Air National Guard airlifting 400 soldiers and equipment to El Paso in four C-130 aircraft on Saturday morning.

The soldiers went to work at 4 a.m. to string the triple-level wire along the riverbank in El Paso. By Tuesday morning, the soldiers erected more than two miles of the barrier, CNN reported. Texas Military Department officials told the news outlet they will build more in the coming days.

During the past week, Border Patrol officials released nearly 6,000 migrants to NGO’s in El Paso or onto the city’s streets, according to the city’s Migrant Situational Awareness Dashboard. More than 10,000 were released the week before.

At the other end of the Texas border with Mexico, National Guard soldiers placed addition razor-wire border fending in strategic areas, Breitbart Texas reported.

In other locations along the border, the state expanded its use of shipping containers to extend border barriers.