Texas DPS spokesman confirms to Glenn Beck that the Lone Star State 'is not backing down' and is laying more wire

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday that the Biden administration can take down the razor wire that Texas has installed along its southern border. The Lone Star State has evidently taken the ruling as a challenge to install even more.

Lt. Chris Olivarez, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, told nationally syndicated radio host and co-founder of Blaze Media Glenn Beck Wednesday that "nothing has changed" in the wake of the high court's 5-4 ruling where the Texas DPS and National Guard are concerned.

"We're still continuing operations at Shelby Park. We still have restricted access to Border Patrol in that area," said Olivarez. "And, in fact, the National Guard is installing more barriers, more concertina wire, more fencing along the river to make it challenging and discourage illegal crossings. Texas is not backing down."

Blaze News previously reported that Texas officials were spotted after the Supreme Court decision installing new razor wire and anti-climb fences in Eagle Pass, a border city home to the controversial municipal park that the Lone Star State seized on Jan. 10.

Last month, thousands of illegal aliens were observed entering the country daily via Eagle Pass. NewsNation reported that over 4,000 migrants crossed into the area on Dec. 18, 2023, alone.

2.47 million, 2.37 million, and 1.73 million illegal aliens entered the United States in fiscal years 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively. Well over 500,000 have already stolen across the border this fiscal year.

Gov. Greg Abbott pre-empted Olivarez's confirmation with a tweet Wedesday noting, "Texas' razor wire is an effective deterrent against the illegal border crossings encouraged by Biden's open border policies. We continue to deploy this razor wire to repel illegal immigration."

The Texas Military Department appears to be on the same page as the DPS and governor, having announced Tuesday it would "hold the line in Shelby Park to deter and prevent unlawful entry into the State of Texas."

Lt. Olivarez underlined the urgency of Texas' continuing efforts, telling Beck that criminal elements are "exploiting the current situation, but yet, our own federal government is not doing anything to stop it. And, of course, when Texas steps up, we're criticized for what we're doing."

"We want to stop those public safety and national security threats. Just today, Border Patrol released [that] there was over 96,000 known gotaways since Oct. 1 for this fiscal year," continued Olivarez. "Those are individuals that have made it into the country right now and we don't know where they're at, what their intentions are. ... You can only imagine the type of people in the country right now that have been able to get away. The threat is here."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Fox News Wednesday that nearly 100,000 illegal aliens crossed the border and disappeared into the U.S. since October — at a rate of nearly 800 per day.

According to the agency's enforcement statistics, 169 individuals on the terror watch list were apprehended at the southern border last year; 30 on the watchlist have been apprehended since October.

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