In a Twitter post Sunday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote that South African migrants have been apprehended for illegally crossing our border, drawing widespread derision and ridicule.

What You Need To Know

  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday tweeted, “Immigrants have recently been apprehended crossing our border illegally from South Africa”

  • The tweet appears to be critical of the Biden administration’s attempts to mitigate the spread of the newly identified omicron COVID-19 variant by restricting travel between the U.S. and South Africa and other African countries

  • Social media users were quick to criticize Abbott, noting the great distance between Texas and South Africa and the fact that it’s separated by the Atlantic Ocean

  • South African politician Ashor Sarupen tweeted, “Apparently, as a consequence of continental drift and some seismic activity, South Africa now shares a border with the US”

In his post that appears to be aimed at the Biden administration’s response to the newly identified omicron COVID-19 variant, Texas' Republican governor went on to say that President Joe Biden has done nothing to stop migrants from South Africa from entering the United States.

Social media users were quick to note that, among other things, there is no evidence for a significant uptick in migrants from South Africa as well as the problem of geography.

The country of South Africa is about 9,000 miles from Texas, is separated by the Atlantic Ocean, and a flight alone is about 18 hours.

The governor’s tweet came after news that the Biden administration had limited travel between the U.S. and several African counties in order to curb the spread of the new variant.

Abbott appeared to be linking those the steps to the migrant crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor has previously linked migrants to an uptick of COVID-19 cases.

It’s unclear what connection Abbott was attempting to make between South Africa and migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

Regardless, criticism was swift.

South African politician Ashor Sarupen tweeted, “Apparently, as a consequence of continental drift and some seismic activity, South Africa now shares a border with the US. Either that, or Greg Abbott is just demonstrating his American level of geography skills.”

New York state Sen. James Skoufis wrote, “@GregAbbott_TX can see South Africa from his house! Stay in school, kids.”