Record 302,000 migrants crossed the border in December - including NINETEEN on FBI terror watchlist: Texas National Guard soldiers continue fortifying border with barbed wire as South Dakota Gov. Kirsti Noem 'tours the war zone'

Soldiers have been pictured loading sharp concertina wire into trucks along the Southern Border crossing at Shelby Park, in Eagle Pass Those pictures emerged while South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem made a trip to the border, deeming the area a 'warzone' It comes just a few days after the SCOTUS ruled against republican governor Greg Abbott and said the federal government could remove the barriers 

An all-time record 302,000 migrants were intercepted crossing the southern border in December – nineteen of them on the FBI’s terror watchlist.

The shocking figure was shared with ABC News Friday and is the highest ever recorded. A source who shared the figure said the number is preliminary and could change.

They’ll deal a fresh blow to President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, as he struggles to tackle the crisis, which consistently ranks as one of voters’ biggest concerns.

Friday’s provisional numbers were released as Texas National Guard soldiers continued to fortify the border with barbed wire in defiance of the Biden administration’s ban on them doing so – with South Dakota’s GOP Governor Kristi Noem also getting involved.

Troops were seen loading excess wire into a truck at the border crossing at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass on Friday.

It comes just a few days after the SCOTUS ruled against Republican Governor Greg Abbott and said the Biden Administration could remove the barriers.

Federal government officials claim the wire fences endanger safety and gets in the way of rescue efforts, while the state says it stops the flow of migrants.

Making an appearance at Eagle Pass earlier on Friday, South Dakota Governor Kristi called out President Biden for refusing to defend the country ‘from an invasion’. She also branded the area a ‘war zone’.

Earlier on Friday, Customs and Border Protection reported 302,034 migrant encounters in December – the highest month ever recorded.

Soldiers were seen loading excess wire into a truck at the border crossing at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass on Friday

Texas National Guard soldiers wait nearby the boat ramp where law enforcement enter the Rio Grande at Shelby Park on January 26, 2024

Making an appearance at Eagle Pass earlier on Friday, South Dakota Governor Kristi called out President Biden for refusing to defend the country ‘from an invasion’

CBP also reported that 19 people on the FBI terror watchlist were arrested in December, bringing the total to 50 arrests for fiscal year 2024 so far.

Speaking to Fox News, Noem told the outlet: ‘I’m incredibly proud of Texas and the actions they are taking.

‘They’re protecting their state sovereignty. This is Texas land. Shelby Park belongs to the state of Texas.

‘It’s a part of the United States of America and the President is refusing to defend it from an invasion.

‘Today was the deadline that president Biden gave Texas that they would start cutting down the razor wire. There’s been none of that happening here today.

‘I as the governor of South Dakota see the effects of Joe Biden ignoring federal law and allowing this invasion every day in my home state.

‘The funneling of the human trafficking and the drugs comes across this border comes in my state through my travel reservations, devastates my people.

‘I’m proud to stand with the governor and his people here working to keep America safe.’

Noem and Abbott have both been touted as future presidential candidates – with Noem a possible vice presidential candidate later this year.

Noem had issued a press release on Thursday detailing her decision to travel to ‘the warzone’.

It said: ‘This is about our Constitution. This is about us standing united, I’m going to be at the border tomorrow to tell the Texas National Guard that we’re not only with them, that we have continued to be with them for the last several years.’

Noem had issued a press release on Thursday detailing her decision to travel to ‘the warzone’

In an aerial view, Texas law enforcement’s staging ground for military equipment and National Guard soldiers is seen at Shelby Park on January 26, 2024 in Eagle Pass

National Guard soldiers load excess concertina wire onto a trailer after Governor Greg Abbott ordered them to defy a Supreme Court ruling

Military vehicles are staged nearby shipping containers that block all access to the Rio Grande riverfront

Noem has also pledged to help send South Dakota National Guard troops to the border, after sending 50 soldiers last Summer.

The Biden administration has been in a standoff with Texas over 30 miles of sharp concertina wire around Eagle Pass along the Rio Grande on the southern border.

Border patrol agents have been seen cutting down the wire as they conduct rescue efforts at the border area, where three migrants have drowned in the last month.

The governor of the Lone Star State, while traveling in India, reacted to the ruling by promising the legal battle was far from over.

‘The Biden Administration has repeatedly cut wire that Texas installed to stop illegal crossings, opening the floodgates to illegal immigrants,’ Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahaleris told the DailyMail.com.

‘The absence of razor wire and other deterrence strategies encourages migrants to make unsafe and illegal crossings between ports of entry, while making the job of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers more dangerous and difficult.’

Governor Abbott ordered the installation of miles of concertina wire in multiple areas of the Texas-Mexico border that are known to be high-traffic areas for migrants crossing into the US

Miles and several layers of the wire are located in many cities and regions of the Texas-Mexico border– a border that is 1,254 miles long

The federal government claims the wire fences endanger safety and gets in the way of rescue efforts, while the state says it stops the flow of migrants

The White House cheered SCOTUS’ decision, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying she was ‘glad’ that border officials will now be able to ‘do their job.’

The fencing at issue in the dispute was installed on private property along the Rio Grande river by the Texas National Guard as part of what was called Operation Lone Star, launched by Governor Abbott in 2021 to deter illegal border crossings.

Texas sued the administration in October 2023 over what it said was an intensified practice by Border Patrol agents of cutting, destroying or otherwise damaging fencing that the state had strategically placed on private land with the permission of landowners.

Abbott ordered the installation of miles of concertina wire in multiple areas of the Texas-Mexico border that are known to be high-traffic areas for migrants crossing into the US.

Many of these migrants are asylum-seekers who are not trying to sneak into the country undetected.

Concertina wire lines the path as members of Congress tour an area near the Texas-Mexico border, Jan. 3, 2024

After crossing the border illegally, they seek out US Border Patrol agents so they can surrender to them and ask for asylum.

Miles and several layers of the wire are located in many cities and regions of the Texas-Mexico border– a border that is 1,254 miles long.

Under the order of the Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas soldiers fenced off Shelby Park on January 10 with razor wire and other fencing, even though the land is owned by the City of Eagle Pass.

Abbott claimed the move was meant to stop the historic number of illegal immigrant entries at Shelby Park in recent weeks.

In the week before Christmas, more than 22,000 asylum-seeking migrants crossed the river separating the US from Mexico and into Shelby Park to get inside Eagle Pass, that only has a population of 28,000.

The influx strained resources and cost local taxpayers thousands of dollars a day.

Launched in March 2021, many of Abbott’s Operation Lone Star initiatives have been controversial and have pitted the Republican governor with the White House over jurisdiction.

Abbott has also put buoys in the Rio Grande to act as a deterrent, but they have also been wrapped up in a legal battle.