EAGLE PASS, Texas (NewsNation) — Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that the state is placing billboards in cities south of the U.S.-Mexico border to deter potential migrants from trekking north. Abbott said the messaging on the billboards is a dose of “tough medicine” to hopefully prevent people who might be on a trek north now.
The new campaign involves putting up dozens of billboards in Mexico and several Central American countries to warn migrants about the dangers of crossing the border, especially sexual assault against women and children.
The $100,000 campaign includes warnings written in Spanish, Chinese, Russian and even Arabic.
“How much did you pay to have your daughter raped,” one of the signs read. Another warned that migrants will be arrested if they enter Texas illegally.
“Our goal right now, immediately, is not only to discourage them from coming but to help them understand the consequences,” Abbott said.
Several local ranchers, officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the state’s border czar, and more were on hand for the announcement.
The new strategy precedes President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, when he promised mass deportations on day one of his administration.
Texas has spent over $11 billion since 2021 on Texas Department of Public Safety troopers stationed at the border, along with Texas National Guard troops, and has built miles of state-funded border wall — much of it in South Texas.
The state is building a new operating base in Eagle Pass to hold up to 2,300 National Guard troops at a cost of over $131 million
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, an informal adviser to Trump’s transition team, expects Trump to take action that will spark a legal challenge over the citizenship status of children born in the U.S. to immigrants living in the country illegally. He also expects Trump to encourage local and state law enforcement officers to help with efforts to arrest and detain migrants.
He said Wednesday that he’s in regular contact with Trump’s team, including Tom Homan, Trump’s pick for border czar, and Stephen Miller, incoming deputy White House chief of staff for policy.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates that 11 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the U.S. as of 2022, the latest statistics available. While campaigning, Trump talked about creating “the largest mass deportation program in history” and called for using the National Guard and domestic police forces in the effort.
