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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference at the Texas State Capitol on June 8, 2023 in Austin.
CNN
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Governor of Texas Greg Abbott expected to approve Donald Trump On Sunday, during an expected visit by the former president to the border town of McAllen, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
The endorsement would be a major boon for the Trump campaign, especially given that the Republican governor of Texas has been very close to the governor of Florida. Ron DeSantisone of Trump’s main GOP opponents.
The trip is being called an official state visit, a source said, and Trump and Abbott will appear together while discussing future plans to curb illegal immigration. Both have come under fire in recent days for their political approaches to the U.S.-Mexico border, as continued immigration has put a huge strain on local and federal resources.
Trump has escalated his tough rhetoric on immigration in recent weeks. The GOP front-runner has publicly said he wants to revive many of his first-ever immigration policies to curb both legal and illegal immigration — including reinstating and expanding the travel ban to predominantly Muslim countries and restoring a policy of Covid, known as Title 42 to further limit immigration into the country, although this time it will be based on the claim that immigrants carry other infectious diseases.
CNN reported on Saturday that he plans a broad expansion of his first administration’s tough immigration policies if re-elected in 2024, including rounding up undocumented immigrants already in the U.S. and placing them in detention camps to await deportation, according to a source familiar with the designs.
Meanwhile, Texas is locked in one tough legal battle with the Biden administration on its efforts to curb illegal immigration. In the latest development, Abbott is expected to take the extraordinary step of signing a bill that would make it so new state crime to enter Texas illegally and give local law enforcement the power to arrest and order immigrants to leave the United States.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt contributed to this report.