Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warns migrants against trying to enter US through alligator-infested Rio Grande: 'Cross at your own risk'

Gregg Abbott has warned migrants trying to enter his state that if the razor wire and border guards don't stop them, the alligators might.

The Texas governor posted unnerving footage of a 15-foot gator sunning himself in the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass which has been a hot spot for the surge of migrants heading to the US.

Thousands of alligators are thought to live in the river which meanders for hundreds of miles between Texas and Mexico and is already a deadly obstacle for those attempting to cross.

The footage was filmed by an Eagle Pass resident and attracted more than 8,000 likes when it was retweeted by the governor on Sunday.

'Alligators are in the Rio Grande,' he wrote. 'FYI there are warning signs posted in some sectors. Cross at your own risk.'

Texas Governor Greg Abbott posted his grim warning on Sunday after the 15 foot alligator was filmed by local resident Luis De La Torre at Eagle Pass 

Migrants attempting to ford the section of the river already have to negotiate miles of razor wire and a 1,000 foot floating barrier of buoys installed on the governor's orders

The governor (seated) hosted a visit by Donald Trump at the Shelby Park flashpoint in February

Around 130,000 crossings of the southern border were recorded in April, down from their all-time high of 302,000 in December.

Crossings in Texas have fallen by half as smuggling cartels turn their attention to Arizona and New Mexico, and Abbott hailed the figures as a vindication for Operation Lone Star, his hardline attempt to beef up border security in the state.

'Texas stepped up to do President Biden's job: secure our border,' he tweeted on Friday.

'Our stiff resistance is working. Texas is building our own border wall, laid down miles of razor wire, and seized over 476 MILLION doses of deadly fentanyl.'

The governor is embroiled in legal challenges with the federal government over his attempt to give Texas law enforcement the right to arrest and deport migrants, and his installation of a 1,000 foot floating barrier of buoys across the river in a bid to deter crossings.

He is also being challenged after stringing miles of razor wire across a 29-mile section of the border around Eagle Pass and blocking Border Patrol agents entirely from a 2.5-mile section of the city's Shelby Park.

There have been no recorded fatal alligator attacks in the river over the last ten years but it is not the first time Abbott has warned of the danger.

In May last year he tweeted footage of a huge adult male eyeballing Texas National Guard members as is floated next to their patrol boat outside Eagle Pass.

Around 130,000 migrant crossings of the southern border were recorded in April 

But illegal border crossings have averaged more than two million a year since Joe Biden became president in January 2021 

Millions have waded into the waters of the Rio Grande to reach the US and 2,700 are thought to have drowned since 1997 

Texas Parks and Wildlife says that alligators have always been common in the waters of the southern United States but that their danger is increasing.

'As human populations in Texas continue to expand, there have been an increased number of encounters between people and alligators,' its website explains.

Last month fact checkers debunked a pair of AI created images posted on TikTok which appeared to show US Border Patrol officers placing alligators in the Texas stretch of the river as a security measure.

But the post quickly went viral with many expressing support for the idea.

No agency counts the number of people who die trying to cross the river but Stephanie Leutert of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas estimates that at least 2,700 migrants drowned in it between 1997 and 2022.

The human cost of the crisis was highlighted in 2019 when the body of Salvadoran migrant Oscar Ramirez was pictured washed up on the bank, hugging his dead year-old daughter Valeria outside Brownsville.

And in January this year Victerma de la Sancha Cerros, 33, died alongside two children Yorlei Rubi, 10, and Jonathan Agustín Briones de la Sancha, eight, at Shelby Park, just days after Abbott had closed access to US Border Patrol.

Illegal immigration has reached an all-time high under the presidency of Joe Biden but the Senate dismissed impeachment articles brought by House Democrats against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas earlier this month.

The dangers of the crossing were vividly highlighted in 2019 when the body of Salvadoran migrant Oscar Ramirez was pictured washed up on the bank, hugging his dead year-old daughter Valeria outside Brownsville

In January this year Yorlei Rubi, 10, and Jonathan Agustín Briones de la Sancha, eight, died alongside Victerma de la Sancha Cerros, 33, in the waters at Shelby Park, just days after Abbott had closed access to US Border Patrol

Congress has failed to pass a deal limiting migration and the issue looks certain to be front and center of campaigning ahead of November's general election.

Biden is currently considering using an executive order implemented by former President Donald Trump to limit the number of migrants who can claim asylum at the southern border.

'We're examining whether or not I have that power,' Biden told Univision's Enrique Acevedo in an interview taped in early April.

'Some are suggesting that I should just go ahead and try it,' the president said when speaking with the Spanish-language broadcaster. 'And if I get shut down by the court, I get shut down by the court.'