Dan Patrick defends Texas pushing back against Biden admin's 'open border': We've 'had it'

Existing tensions between the federal government and the state of Texas have heightened over the last several weeks, particularly following an incident involving the drowning of three migrants. On "America's Newsroom" Thursday, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blasted the Biden administration for initially blaming the incident on the state after National Guard troops seized control of an area near Eagle Pass to prevent illegal crossings.

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DAN PATRICK: They know they're wrong. They were down here a month ago or so with a civil rights charge, with the FBI saying our boats were running over illegal immigrants. They watched the tape, and the next day the FBI apologized. They were wrong. They were wrong about whipping people a couple of years ago and they're wrong about this. This poor woman and her children drowned before the Border Patrol got there. We have the legal authority in the state of Texas to protect the egress and ingress of our property, and that's what we're doing. We want to work with the Border Patrol, most of them are good people, but I believe this is a political move by Biden on down. Since he's been elected president, he's had an open border. We have drug dealers, gang members, murderers, molesters, carjackers, kidnappers, terrorists, rapists. That's who's crossing the border. That doesn't mean that's the vast majority, but that's a lot of the people who are crossing this border. We know we've arrested almost 300 people on the terrorist watch list. So we have dangerous, evil people coming into this country, and Texas has had it. 

Asylum seekers wait to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States on Sept. 30 in Eagle Pass, Texas.  (John Moore/Getty Images)

… And if you look at the people who have come into Texas, by the time he's out of office in November, which he will be when Donald Trump becomes president, it'll be over 10 million people. That means the biggest states in America by population are California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and the state of illegal immigrants. That many illegal immigrants have come into this country since Biden's become president. More than any other state except those top six states that I mentioned. This is a catastrophe for everybody. And we've had it. And we're pushing back. 

EAGLE PASS, TEXAS - JANUARY 12: A National Guard soldier stands guard on the banks of the Rio Grande river at Shelby Park on January 12, 2024 in Eagle Pass, Texas.  ( (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images))

The Biden administration, in a new filing to the Supreme Court, has admitted that three migrants who drowned last week died long before Border Patrol agents sought access to the Shelby Park area from Texas officials – after the administration had blasted the Lone Star state over the incident.

The Department of Homeland Security and the White House both took aim at Texas after the deaths of three migrants, including two children, in the Shelby Park area last week. Texas had seized the area and the administration said it was refusing to grant Border Patrol access.

"Tragically, a woman and two children drowned last night in the Shelby Park area of Eagle Pass, which was commandeered by the State of Texas earlier this week," DHS said in a statement Saturday evening. "In responding to a distress call from the Mexican government, Border Patrol agents were physically barred by Texas officials from entering the area."

That statement went on to call Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s policies "cruel, dangerous, and inhumane, and Texas’s blatant disregard for federal authority over immigration poses grave risks."

Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

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