Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is hoping to scare undocumented migrants from making the trek across the border with harrowing billboards warning of the “horrific realities” people face on the grueling trip, including the rape of minors.
“How much did you pay to have your daughter raped?” one of the billboards read in Spanish, warning that many girls have been sexually assaulted by human smugglers.
“This 14-year-old girl was raped by more than 20 men on her way to the border,” a second billboard read. “Protect your family. Change their fate.”
Another of the shocking billboards reads: “Your wife and daughter will pay for the trip with their bodies.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announces a billboard campaign in Mexico and Central America to deter illegal immigration, in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Dec. 19, 2024. REUTERS
The billboards contain various messages in multiple languages for illegal migrants to stay out of Texas. @GovAbbott/X
Abbott, who unveiled renderings of the 40 billboards he plans to place across Mexico and Central America on Thursday, said the messages were necessary as he presented him in front of a burned-down “rape tree,” at Wall Ranch in Eagle Pass.
The location is allegedly where migrant women were routinely raped by human smugglers, also known as coyotes, whom they paid large sums of money to help secure their entry into the US.
“These billboards tell the horror stories of human trafficking,” Abbott said. “They implore those people in Central America to consider the violent, horrific realities of what will happen to the women and children they bring with them.
“This is tough medicine,” he added. “But we want no more rape trees in Texas. Do not make the dangerous trek to Texas.”
Migrants react near a razorwire fence, set up by the US to inhibit the crossing, after a member of the Texas National Guard fired tear gas, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on December 19, 2024. REUTERS
Migrants plead with the Texas National Guard to be let in on the north embankment of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, to be processed by Border Patrol on March 20, 2024. Omar Ornelas/El Paso Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesThe billboards, which cost roughly $100,000 to make, also warn migrants in Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and Russian, that they will be arrested if they enter the Lone Star State.
“Stop. If you cross the border illegally into Texas, you will be jailed,” the signs read.
Local rancher Kimberly Wall agreed that the billboards were needed as she expressed her concern for local safety after seeing “lots of women” who were raped and beaten and “left to die” near her home.
“How much did you pay to have your daughter raped? Many girls are raped by the coyotes you hire,” one billboard read. Texas.gov
Another billboard that will be placed in Central America reads: “Your wife and daughter will pay for the trip with their bodies. Coyotes lie. Don’t put your family at risk.” Texas.govAlong with the billboard campaign, Abbott said he would expand his controversial razor wire fencing and the floating buoy border wall ahead of an expected surge of illegal immigration before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
“Through Operation Lone Star, we have done some incredible work to stop illegal border crossers,” Abbott said. “But this new effort is about stopping their journey from even beginning in the first place. Until President Donald Trump is back in the White House to secure our border once again, we will continue to take every step necessary to defend Texas.”
Last month, a state source told The Post that Texas officials are looking at a plan that would ship newly arrived illegal migrants directly to ICE holding centers.
Abbott’s billboards will also be written in Russian as well as Arabic and Chinese. Texas.govThe proposed plan would make it so that migrants can be processed quickly for deportation.
Under the proposed plan, buses chartered by Texas from border cities will be rerouted from sanctuary cities including New York, Chicago and Denver to federal detention centers to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents process them more quickly, the source said.
