Greg Abbott Deploys Airboats Against Migrants in Texas Border Battle

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has shared photos on X, formerly Twitter, showing members of the state's National Guard using airboats to patrol the Rio Grande in a bid to control migration at the southern border.

The post came just one day after the governor announced Texas National Guard troops would "undergo training to effectively operate and maintain airboats" in support of Operation Lone Star, a joint scheme from the Texas Military Department and Texas Department of Public Safety launched by Abbott in 2021 to control the situation at the border.

Migration from Mexico into Texas has become a major source of tension between state and federal officials over the past few months. In January, 68,260 migrants were encountered by law enforcement, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, down from 149,806 in December.

The state has been the epicenter of the U.S.-Mexico border battle for the past year and a half, as Abbott has taken matters into his own hands due to the perceived inaction of President Joe Biden's administration and federal government. That has included lawsuits and federal court battles over the use of razor wire in high-traversed areas such as Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, and floating barriers in the Rio Grande.

On Wednesday, Abbott posted two photos on X. One showing National Guard troops onboard an airboat and another which appears to show the riverbank taken from one of the vessels.

He added: "Texas National Guard soldiers conduct airboat patrols along the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass.

"Texas continues to use all available tools and strategies to secure our southern border."

Newsweek contacted Abbott's office and the Texas National Guard at 8:45 a.m. ET on Thursday requesting more information about the airboat deployments.

Airboats are flat-bottomed vessels powered by an aircraft-style propeller on the back which are typically used in shallow water or marshy areas. Not having an engine in the water allows them to operate in significantly shallower areas than more conventional craft.

Abbott has also deployed floating buoys, interspaced with circular saw-like pieces of metal, in the Rio Grande in a bid to discourage crossings.

In January, the Supreme Court ruled that federal agents could remove razor-wire placed along the Texas-Mexico border on Abbott's orders, sparking fury from the governor.

In response, Abbott said the state was facing an "invasion" and invoked its "constitutional authority to defend and protect itself." A joint letter backing the governor's position was signed by 25 other Republican governors, while Donald Trump urged other GOP-controlled states to send National Guard troops to Texas in a show of support.

In an update released by Abbott on February 23, he said 501,300 suspected "illegal immigrants" had been detained in his state since Operation Lone Star was launched in 2021, with 467 million "lethal doses" of fentanyl seized by authorities.

Speaking earlier this week, an Arizona Border Patrol chief warned the state could face an "unprecedented" number of migrant deaths in the coming months due to the numbers attempting to cross and rising heat.

John Modlin, chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, said: "If nothing changes with the level of migration and we get the 118- to 120-degree days down there, we're likely going to see unprecedented amounts of death in the desert. At some point, something has to give."