Ken Paxton to Newsmax: Following Law Made Difference on Border

Earlier in May, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that, in April, year-over-year apprehensions at the border were down 93%. CBP reported 129,000 apprehensions in April 2024 under the Biden administration, compared to 8,383 this past month under President Donald Trump. Texas Attorney General Paxton told Newsmax on Thursday that "It's pretty amazing that just following federal law, what a difference it can make."

"You watch what Donald Trump did. His first term was remarkable. He'd done the best job with immigration of any president in my lifetime. And then, of course, Joe Biden announced on day one that he wasn't going to deport anybody. So Joe Biden completely ignored his constitutional role as president and accepted everybody here," Paxton said during an appearance on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."

Over the weekend, Air Force Academy cadet Ava Moore was struck and killed by a jet ski on Grapevine Lake in Texas. Daikerlyn Alejandra Gonzalez, an illegal migrant, has been charged in her death. Paxton said Moore's death would not have happened if the Biden administration had simply followed the law.

"And then, of course, when President Trump was reelected, that all stopped. It's amazing what doing the right thing actually does. And in this case that we're talking about today likely would never have happened if Joe Biden had followed federal law and done his job. And there were numerous cases of this very same thing happening," he added.