In an embarrassing defeat for Democrats, Greg Abbott has shown that closing the border actually does work in preventing illegal border crossings.
Illegal aliens and Chinese spies have stopped illegally crossing in Texas and instead have turned to illegally crossing parts of the border which remain open, such as California
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-02-26/migrant-arrivals-california-increase
Migrant arrests are up along the border in California and dropping in Texas. Why?

A new pattern emerged along the nation’s southern border last month: Migrant arrests plummeted at the Texas border in January compared to the same month a year ago. At the same time, similar arrests soared year-over-year at entry points in California and Arizona.
Experts say a combination of factors is likely causing the shift, which has led to several thousand migrants entering California each week while they await court dates for immigration proceedings.

Stepped-up enforcement efforts by the governments of Mexico, Panama and Colombia, and heightened violence by cartels on the Mexican side of the Texas border have likely slowed expected migration into that state.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s restrictive new immigration policies, including installing razor wire along some parts of the border and a new state law that could take effect next month, could also be playing a role.

“For something to change that much that quickly, it’s either word of mouth among migrants or some change among smuggling patterns, or both,” said Adam Isacson, director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America, a research and advocacy organization.