Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez said he will work with the state’s first-ever border czar, Mike Banks, for a “safer Texas” in a way that is “fair and equitable.”
During a phone interview last Tuesday with The Rider, Cortez said Banks will “add value to protect the border.”
Asked about his thoughts on Gov. Greg Abbott appointing a border czar based in Hidalgo County, Cortez replied he understands Abbott is trying to help a bad situation.
“Based on the conversations that I have had with Mr. Banks, you know, they are talking about assisting law enforcement with the flow of drugs, with the flow of cash, you know, illicit cash, with the flow of weapons,” he said. “All those are good things to help with because they bring, you know, danger to … our state in our area.”
Cortez said he will work with Banks for a “safer Texas.”
“If I’m asked to call for an emergency because there’s an emergency and the facts show that there’s an emergency … I’m going to call for an emergency,” he said. “But if the facts don’t show that we have an emergency or a crisis, then I’m not going to do it just simply because I’m asked, and I hope that he agreed with that.”
Abbott named Banks, a former Border Patrol agent, as the first-ever Texas border czar on Jan. 30 during a news conference in San Benito.
During the news conference, Banks said his No. 1 priority is to make Texas “the least desirable place for illegal immigration to cross.”
Banks is a former U.S. Border Patrol Weslaco Station patrol agent in charge, according to a Jan. 30 news release from the governor’s office.
He has more than three decades of federal law enforcement leadership experience, with 23 years in border security operations and administration along the U.S.-Mexico border.
He previously served as acting deputy chief of law enforcement operational programs at the Border Patrol headquarters in Washington, D.C.; McAllen Station patrol agent in charge; Border Patrol Rio Grande Valley Sector executive officer and acting division chief; and other various Border Patrol leadership positions in Texas, Arizona and California.
Banks holds an associate’s degree in administration of justice from Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California, and a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from South Texas College.
The Rider asked the governor’s press office for an interview with Banks, but Haley Crow, press assistant, told the newspaper in a Feb. 10 email that they “haven’t started coordinating interviews for Mike Banks yet.”
The newspaper also asked Crow for Banks’ annual salary as border czar. She told The Rider to submit a public information request, which it did last Wednesday.
Banks, who will report directly to the governor, will oversee border security in Texas, stopping illegal immigration and creating plans for dealing with migrant surges, Abbott said during the news conference. He will collaborate with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department and other state agencies.
“For nearly two years, the State of Texas has taken unprecedented, historic action under Operation Lone Star in response to the Biden administration’s refusal to secure the border,” Abbott said.
The state has spent more than $4 billion on the effort since Operation Lone Star began in March 2021.
Since its start, Operation Lone Star has resulted in over 348,000 migrant apprehensions, over 24,000 criminal arrests and more than 22,000 felony charges, according to a Feb. 10 news release from the governor’s office. During this border mission, the Texas Department of Public Safety seized over 361 million lethal doses of fentanyl.
Abbott said during the news conference that it will cost about $25 million per mile to build the border wall, depending on the location.
Álvaro J. Corral, an assistant professor in the UTRGV Department of Political Science, said one of the “biggest issues” regarding border security is the border wall.
“It is really complicated for the state of Texas to build such a wall,” Corral said. “Logistically, because there is a lot … of rules and regulations to [do] that. Because again, it’s like, you know, some of this has to do [with] private property. Some of this is disruptive to property owners and the environment.”
Asked his assessment on border security, Judge Cortez replied the facts speak for themselves.
“There is a tremendous amount of drugs that are coming into our country,” he said. “There’s a tremendous amount of weapons that are going from this country to Mexico. There’s cash going back and forth. … I don’t think we’ll ever get to a point that we can say that everything is fine. It will always be a struggle in fighting crime.”
Cortez said Hidalgo County will assist Banks and Abbott in any way it can.
“Hidalgo County stands for law,” he said. “We want … to protect the rule of law [in] our county and to the extent that we can help in any way that we can, that … we want to be good partners with them. But, again, we want to approach things in a fair and equitable way.”
