Abbott says 'we're not shooting people' who cross the border because feds 'would charge us with murder'

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said shooting people who cross the border illegally is the only policy his state has not implemented to secure the border because the Biden administration "would charge us with murder." 

"We are using every tool that can be used from building a border wall, to building these border barriers, to passing this law that I signed that led to another lawsuit by the Biden administration where I signed a law making it illegal for somebody to enter Texas from another country," Abbott told conservative talk radio host Dana Loesch last week.

The governor said Texas is "deploying every tool and strategy that we can" to deal with the immigration crisis. 

"The only thing that we’re not doing is we’re not shooting people who come across the border, because of course the Biden administration would charge us with murder," Abbott said. His comments were first highlighted by Heartland Signal. 

BIDEN DOJ SEEKS SUPREME COURT INTERVENTION OVER TEXAS RAZOR WIRE AT SOUTHERN BORDER

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told a conservative radio host Texas is doing everything it can to deter illegal immigration except "shooting people who come across the border."  (Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa slammed the governor's "bloodthirsty" remarks in a lengthy statement issued Tuesday. 

"The only thing stopping Greg Abbott from ordering law enforcement to shoot migrant women and children are murder charges. Time and time again, Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans have made it abundantly clear they have no morality or humanity," Hinojosa said. 

"Their only solutions to ‘secure’ the border are separating families, medieval death traps, and mass imprisonment of migrants and Texans who are perceived to be undocumented by law enforcement. This is the same rhetoric endorsed by domestic terrorists such as the El Paso shooter, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and former President Donald Trump — who recently echoed Adolf Hitler by accusing immigrants of ‘poisoning the blood of our country.’" he continued.

The Democratic Party official went on to criticize a recently signed anti-illegal immigration law that allows state and local law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants, which the Biden administration says interferes with the federal government’s authority, frustrates U.S. immigration operations and proceedings and hurts relations with foreign governments.

TEXAS SEIZES CONTROL OF PARK, BLOCKS BORDER PATROL FROM ENTERING, AS PART OF ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION EFFORTS

Large masses of migrants cross the surging Rio Grande River and await entry along the razor wired American border in Eagle Pass, Texas on September 27, 2023. (Benjamin Lowry for Fox News Digital)

"This bloodthirsty approach to governance is dangerous not only for migrants and Texans of color – but for our entire state. SB 4 is being challenged in federal court for its extreme overreach of authority against Black and Brown Texans — because brutality is their blueprint, cruelty is their point, and extremism is their M.O.," Hinojosa said. 

"It is our duty to protect our country’s most vulnerable, and Texas Republicans’ dehumanization of these communities will continue until their authoritarian policies prevail – or apparently, until they catch a murder charge."

An Abbott spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

BIDEN LAWSUIT OVER TEXAS IMMIGRATION LAW LATEST ATTEMPT TO STIFLE STATE'S MOVES TO STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

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Abbott's administration has clashed with the Biden administration numerous times over illegal immigration and border security. Abbott has accused President Biden of failing to enforce immigration law and the federal government has responded by accusing Texas of interfering with federal law enforcement. 

Texas installed barbed wire near key crossing areas where there have been massive surges of illegal immigration in recent years. The Biden administration on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. The federal government has said that once migrants are on U.S. soil, Border Patrol agents must apprehend them, and has claimed the wire "inhibits Border Patrol’s ability to patrol the border."

Abbott lambasted the Biden administration's lawsuit and defended the decision to install razor wire along the border. 

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"In the history of America, have you ever seen a president tried to prevent a state from securing his own safety? We laid down this razor wire, hundreds of miles of it that was an effective deterrent and repelled migrants from entering the state of Texas," Abbott told Loesch.

"And because it was so effective, Biden ordered the Border Patrol to either cut it or to lift it," he said.

Fox News Digital's Adam Shaw and Fox News' Bill Melugin contributed to this report.