Southwest
Gov. Abbott dismisses Biden-Harris victory lap narrative as Texas border crossings plunge
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is touting a sharp drop in border crossings in 2024, arguing that it is due to the efforts of his state rather than the policies of the Biden administration, which he says have hurt, not helped, the effort to secure the border as the administration has sought to “tear down” what Texas has done.
“Texas has the largest border of any state in the United States of America. And, in the early years of the Biden administration, it was Texas that was being overrun by the illegal immigration policies that were promoted and implemented by [President] Biden and by [Vice President Kamala] Harris,” he said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Abbott pursued an aggressive strategy under Operation Lone Star, in which he surged troops and resources to the border, building its own border wall after the Biden administration stopped construction, setting up buoys in the Rio Grande and installing razor wire fence. It has led to a number of legal battles in court between the state and the Biden administration. The White House accused Abbott of putting migrants and Border Patrol at risk and impeding federal law enforcement.
BORDER OFFICIALS REVEAL WHICH FOREIGN GANG THEY ARE MAKING KEY ‘PRIORITY’ AMID CRIMES IN MULTIPLE STATES
After three years of a historic crisis at the southern border, with records of encounters being repeatedly smashed since Biden entered the White House, numbers dropped dramatically over the summer.
The White House tied the sharp drop in encounters to an executive order Biden signed in June which restricted asylum entries into the U.S. — with encounters in July the lowest since September 2020.
The administration has argued that it needs more funding and reforms from Congress, but that Republicans have voted against them for political purposes. Specifically, officials have cited a bipartisan bill that would have increased funding while putting some limits on entries. It has failed to make it out of the Senate.
“For months, the Biden-Harris Administration worked with a bipartisan group of Senators to craft a historic bipartisan border security agreement that would have added thousands of frontline personnel to the border — but Congressional Republicans voted against that agreement twice — proving that they are more interested in cynically playing politics than securing the border,” the White House said last month. “The Biden-Harris Administration has taken effective action, and Republicans continue to do nothing.”
HOW EAGLE PASS BECAME THE CENTERPIECE OF ABBOTT’S EFFORTS TO SECURE THE BORDER
Texas National Guard troops watch over more than 1,000 immigrants who had crossed the Rio Grande overnight from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Dec. 18, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Images)
But Abbott has said that the drop in Texas has had nothing to do with those policies.
“In Texas, illegal immigration has gone down about 85%, while it is higher than that in Arizona, New Mexico and California,” he said. “So it shows that what Texas is doing is working despite the fact that Biden and Harris have challenged Texas every step of the way to try to tear down what we built.”
Abbott’s comments come amid an ongoing political battle over who is responsible for the border crisis and which presidential candidate is better positioned to fix it.
Harris has recently claimed that she is the better candidate to solve the issues at the border, zeroing in on the bipartisan Senate bill and blaming former President Trump for its failure.
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“As president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed, and I will sign it into law. I know… we can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system. We can create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border,” she said at the Democratic National Convention.
Abbott said that Harris believes in “open border policies” and said he would be supporting Trump in the November election.
“Americans need to learn the reality, both of how the policy changed under Biden-Harris and what Kamala Harris would do to pretty much put America on a pathway of destruction,” he said.
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Events and protests were held in downtown Los Angeles Saturday on the one-year anniversary of one of the largest immigration enforcement actions in California.
One June 6, 2025, federal agents stormed the L.A. Fashion District, arresting and detaining dozens of workers.
The enforcement action served as a catalyst, igniting a wave of subsequent raids across Southern California. In response, city leaders affirmed their “unwavering commitment to the immigrant communities” in Los Angeles, as events were held throughout the city to remember those who were deported and those whose immigration cases remain unresolved.
Protesters advocating for immigrant communities gathered outside a federal detention center in downtown Saturday, waving flags and signs. One woman was arrested during a clash with police.
The initial raid in the L.A. Garment District swept up workers, including the father of one woman who described the experience as “one of the most traumatic experiences” of their lives. This operation was among the first deportation actions that resulted in families being separated and triggered days of civil unrest.
At a commemoration event, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and the Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of L.A. stood together, vowing to protect immigrant communities living in fear.
“We all felt attacked, and I think what’s so critical today, is to know and remember and acknowledge that this is still going on every day,” Bass said.
While the Department of Homeland Security maintains that its enforcement operations target criminals, families of those detained argue that immigration enforcement terrorizes hardworking people. These families contend that many immigrants pay taxes and contribute to society, even if they are not U.S. citizens.
Immigration attorneys report that thousands of individuals are still trying to locate their loved ones. They also highlighted that hundreds of people swept up in immigration raids last year remain detained in facilities, facing medical neglect, inhumane conditions and the denial of basic due process protections.
Watch the full report from KTLA’s Sara Welch in the video at the top of this story.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KTLA. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KTLA staff before being published.
Los Angeles, Ca
Pasadena motorist knocked unconscious in unprovoked assault after other driver flashes high beams at him
A motorist was rendered unconscious after what authorities are calling an unprovoked attack that occurred after another driver flashed their high beams at him, authorities say.
According to the Pasadena Police Department, the victim, a 63-year-old man, was driving northbound on Raymond Avenue near Washington Boulevard when a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction flashed him around 1 a.m. Saturday.
“The victim reported that he was driving northbound on Raymond Avenue from Washington Boulevard when he observed a vehicle traveling southbound flashing its high beams at him,” a Pasadena Police Department spokesperson confirmed to KTLA. “The victim stated he stopped his vehicle and exited. He was then assaulted by an unknown suspect. The assault was unprovoked.”
The attack left the man unconscious and with a three-inch deep laceration to his head, police added. Upon regaining consciousness, the man transported himself to Huntington Hospital, and it was around 1:20 a.m. when police responded there to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon and began their investigation.
Upon arriving at the hospital, the victim told police that, due to his injuries, he was not able to provide a description of a suspect, vehicle or the weapon used, nor was he able to tell police the exact location where the assault occurred, although it was confirmed to be somewhere near Raymond Avenue and Washington Boulevard. La Pintoresca Park is located near that intersection.
No further details were immediately available.
Anyone with any information on the incident is asked to contact the Pasadena Police Department right away.
Sofia Pop Perez contributed to this report.
A woman was struck and killed by a driver while crossing the street on Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach.
On June 3, the female pedestrian was using the crosswalk at Pacific Coast Highway and Pacific Avenue around 4:50 a.m.
She had walked against a red light and was hit by a 19-year-old driver in a Chevy sedan, Long Beach police said.
Despite lifesaving efforts, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver remained at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation.
“At this time, impaired driving, distracted driving and excessive speed are not believed to be a factor in this collision,” police said.
The woman’s name is being withheld pending identification by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
Anyone who witnessed the crash or has information on the incident is asked to call Detective Joseph Johnson at 562-570-7355.
Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.
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