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Gov. Greg Abbott Claims Texas “Smashing” Job Records, But “Vulnerable”

by in Daily Edition | April 25, 2023

Gov Greg Abbott

Gov. Greg Abbott, photo: World Travel & Tourism Council, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Texas Governor Greg Abbott boasts in a tweet today that Texas has added 2 million jobs since he became Governor of the Lone Star state in 2015.

The good fortune for the Texas economy has had a particular strong surge recently, according to Abbott, who in a separate tweet wrote: “Texas AGAIN smashed three job growth and employment records in March — total jobs, total Texans working, and the largest workforce in state history. Talented Texans power our success, with more Texans working today than EVER before.”

A follower of the Governor’s social media feed largely gets the impression that Texas and Texans are doing well.

But between the celebratory tweets that present data proving Texas is thriving, there are other Abbott tweets that say President Biden has “abandoned” the southern border and “left Texas vulnerable to deadly weapons, drugs, & cartel gangs.”

This tweet coincides with Biden’s announcement that he will run for a second term as POTUS. “Texans — and Americans — can’t afford 4 more years of Biden’s open border policies,” Abbott writes.

Yet in recent congressional testimony a different Biden border story is being told — that it is not “open.”

Under oath, Border Security Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Sanchez was asked whether the Biden administration has created a more porous border. “When President Biden took office, did your agents stop enforcing the border and just allow everybody to come in,” asked Congressman Maxwell Frost (D-FL), “thus creating what we hear here is an open border?”

Sanchez replied: “Sir, thank you for your question. The answer is no, sir. We continue to enforce policy and laws.”

Nevertheless, the border remains enormously challenging to administer, as it has been for previous administrations. “Even as it carried out the cruelest anti-migration policies in decades,” reports the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “the Trump administration presided over the largest flows of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border since the mid-2000s.”

Reports of drug and weapons seizures at the Texas border also point to a different story than the one Abbott is telling.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, January alone included, but was not limited to, the following drug and weapons seizures at the Texas border:

  • On Jan. 6 at the Ysleta Port of Entry in El Paso, Texas, CBP officers intercepted 135.45 pounds of methamphetamine concealed within a vehicle. The discovery was made with the aid of CBP canine and non-intrusive inspection. The driver was a 25-year-old female, U.S. citizen.
  • On Jan. 12 at the Port of Presidio, Texas, CBP officers intercepted 15.43 pounds of fentanyl and 9.92 pounds of methamphetamine along with an AR-15 rifle from a 32-year-old female, U.S. citizen.
  • On Jan. 16 at the Bridge of the Americas border crossing in El Paso, Texas, CBP officers intercepted 11.9 pounds of fentanyl after a CBP canine alerted to a vehicle driven by a 39-year-old female, Mexican citizen.
  • On Jan. 25 at the Paso del Norte border crossing in El Paso, Texas, CBP officers intercepted 141.75 pounds of methamphetamine. 

DrugAbuseStatistics.org reports that in Texas:

  • 3,136 overdose deaths per year.
  • 1.55% of all deaths are from drug overdose.
  • OD deaths increased at an annual rate of 2.28% over the last 3 years.
  • The OD death rate is 10.8 deaths out of every 100,000 residents.
  • This is 47.83% lower than the national average OD death rate.
  • 4.46% of nationwide OD deaths occur in Texas.