Forget Kamala Harris. Governor Abbott appointed a retired Border Patrol agent as the Texas border czar. Mike Banks will help oversee Abbott’s work to secure the state’s border with Mexico. He will oversee thousands of deployed National Guards troops, state police, and construction on new barriers. Priority one, he said, “is to make the state of Texas the least desirable place for illegal immigration to cross. “I don’t think it’s going to be that difficult,” he said. “I’m going to apply the applicable laws that are out there that should be applied within my ability.”

The Texas legislative session is underway and the governor is expected to ask for more money to keep Operation Lone Star going. It has cost Texas, taxpayers, more than $4B since its launch in March 2021. The size and scope of Operation Lone Star are unprecedented.

Abbott announced the new border czar while positioned in front of a stretch of state-constructed border wall in San Benito, a small South Texas city. He said it costs about $25 million per mile to build. At his command at the end of the announcement, a construction crew used a crane to hoist another metal wall panel into place.

Banks retired from the Border Patrol about 10 days ago. He worked for the agency for more than 20 years. He will be headquartered in Weslaco, in the Rio Grande Valley. That makes sense with the Rio Grande Valley the epicenter of the Biden border crisis. He will report directly to the governor. Abbott said Banks will accelerate construction on border barriers and “tap his expertise to deploy strategies that reduce illegal immigration.” That expertise is at the center of some controversy dating back to the previous administration.

In 2019, when Banks was the agent in charge of the McAllen station, he led a tour for then-Vice President Mike Pence while the Trump administration was under criticism for providing migrants with poor detention conditions. At the time, Banks told reporters the men were allowed to brush their teeth once a day, but conceded many had not showered for at least 10 days.

Efrén Olivares, the immigrant justice deputy legal director with the Southern Poverty Law Center who was a program director at the Texas Civil Rights Project in the McAllen area for years, said he worries a state border czar role would lead to the blurring of roles between a state government and the federal government.

“It is unquestionable that immigration enforcement is [in] the jurisdiction and the purview and the competence of the federal government,” Olivares said. “States under the Constitution have no business enforcing immigration laws. So the fact that there’s someone tasked with that role in Texas is going to lead to a lot of questions and blur the lines of competence and jurisdiction between a state agency and the federal agencies, including Border Patrol where Mr. Banks comes from.”

Laura Peña, the attorney-director of the Beyond Borders program at the Texas Civil Rights Project, said Abbott should “stop pretending” he’s the U.S. president.

“Plucking a former federal border agent as the latest ‘border czar’ will only sow confusion, chaos and danger into border communities that are hungry for real solutions to improve their lives and communities. Legally, enforcement of immigration laws is the domain of the federal government, and it is past time that they step in to stop Abbott’s stunts.”

The activists who advocate for no restrictions on immigration often refer to what Governor Abbott is doing as “stunts.” The White House does it, too. However, Abbott is doing what he can to make the southern border more secure. Texas bears the biggest burden during the Biden border crisis. Governor Abbott has written five letters to Biden with suggestions on how to better secure the border, yet Biden ignores the crisis he created. During their most recent interaction, Abbott handed a letter to Biden on the tarmac at the El Paso airport. It was later reported that Biden didn’t bother to read it. If he had, he would have seen several steps the governor recommends that DHS and the Biden administration do, in simple bullet point form. Abbott said he deliberately made the text concise and simple to read and understand. Still, Biden couldn’t be bothered.

Abbott praised the career Banks had with Border Patrol and Banks was complimentary of Abbott’s efforts to protect the Texas border with Mexico.

“I am humbled to be selected by Governor Abbott for this opportunity,” said Border Czar Banks. “Protecting our nation’s border is something I have dedicated the last 23 years of my life to, and I am very passionate about it. I look forward to strengthening our relationships with law enforcement partners and the community, leveraging all that we can to further protect our great state of Texas and the United States.”

“No Governor has dedicated more time, energy, and effort in terms of public safety, homeland security, and border security than Governor Abbott,” said Director Steve McCraw. “I welcome Mike Banks to the Texas team as we continue working to secure the border.”

“I applaud Governor Abbott for selecting Mike Banks as Texas’ Border Czar,” said Major General Suelzer. “The Texas National Guard and I look forward to working with Mike in our mission to protect Texans as we secure the border.”

The governor is doing what the Biden administration refuses to do. It’s the job of the president to keep our borders secure. Biden has chosen political ideology over national security. That’s a dangerous decision to make. It’s a dereliction of duty.