AUSTIN, Texas — On Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted, "I officially declared an invasion at our border because of Biden's policies."
Abbott is vowing to send more state personnel to the border to fight what he's calling an "invasion."
The governor posted a video on social media on Wednesday night of what he said is the feds cutting down the state's razor wire in Eagle Pass.
The post read, "Today the Biden Admin CUT that wire, opening the floodgates to illegal immigrants. I immediately deployed more Texas National Guard to repel illegal crossings & install more razor wire."
A few hours later, he posted, "I officially declared an invasion at our border because of Biden's policies. We deployed the Texas National Guard, DPS & local law enforcement. We are building a border wall, razor wire & marine barriers. We are also repelling migrants."
Cities along the border have reported a new surge in migrants this week. On Wednesday, the mayor of Eagle Pass signed an emergency declaration, asking for more resources. In El Paso, city leaders said within the last week they've encountered over 1,200 migrants per day.
Immigration lawyer Kate Lincoln Goldfinch said despite these numbers, there is no invasion at the border.
"I think using the word invasion is legally and factually inaccurate and extremely dangerous," Goldfinch said. "We are not facing an invasion at the southern border. In fact, our federal immigration authorities are doing an excellent job of apprehending migrants."
This all comes as the Biden administration and Abbott are in a legal battle over the state's enforcement efforts, including a floating border barrier in the Rio Grande. The federal government wants Abbott to remove those buoys, saying they're illegal and pose a humanitarian threat. Abbott said the Biden administration is not doing anything to protect the border.
Goldfinch said the governor is just trying to increase his chance of winning the lawsuit.
"So what it appears that Abbott is doing is using rhetoric of an invasion so that he strengthens his position in the federal lawsuit about the boys, because the U.S. Constitution says a state may not enforce federal immigration laws unless it is being invaded," Goldfinch said.
As far as the legal dispute between the U.S. government and Texas over the buoys, an appeals court set a hearing date for Oct. 5. Until a judge says otherwise, the buoys can stay.