Not only did President Donald Trump sign an executive order Wednesday to build a border wall, he also signed an order aimed to strip federal money from so-called sanctuary cities and states.
Chris Cabrera of the National Border Patrol Council says so far the new president has done everything he pledged during the campaign, but exactly what a border wall will look like is still up for debate.
“I know technology will work better in some locations than an actual brick and mortor wall, and in some places a fence is needed, so different areas are going to call for different tactics,” he says.
“You need to talk to the guys down here on the ground about when, where and what, we know what's going to work in certain areas, some talking head inside the beltway is not going to understand what goes on down here.”
Cabrera says as long as there are sanctuary cities, illegal aliens will continue to come.
“People are going to try to get here before lawmakers pass any type of reform,” he says. “Drastic times are going to call for drastic measures on their part, so our agents are going to have to remain super vigilant and go out there and to their job, and do it right.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is now vowing to oust Travis County's sheriff over the sanctuary city issue. Sheriff Sally Hernandez has said her office will no longer honor detainer requests from federal immigration officials.
Abbott said the Texas Legislature is working on anti-sanctuary bills that not only would block taxpayer money as punishment, but would remove officeholders and impose criminal and financial penalties.