Texas Governor Greg Abbott has refused to back down in his border-security row with US President Joe Biden’s administration, arguing that regardless of this week’s Supreme Court ruling in Washington’s favor, his duty to protect his constituents “supersedes” any federal laws.
Abbott issued a statement two days after the Supreme Court ruled that federal Border Patrol agents must be allowed to remove the concertina wire that the state had installed to prevent illegal aliens from crossing its border. The dispute escalated earlier this month when the Texas National Guard seized control of a park at a key border-crossing point and blocked federal officers from accessing the site.
“The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the states,” Abbott said on Wednesday. “The executive branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting states, including immigration laws on the books right now. President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even violated them.”
Abbott claimed that more than 6 million illegal aliens have crossed into the US since Biden took office three years ago – exceeding the populations of all but 17 states – causing “unprecedented harm on the people all across the United States.” The federal government’s failure to fulfill its constitutional duty has triggered a constitutional right of self-defense reserved to the state, he added.
“I have already declared an invasion… to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself,” the Republican governor said. “That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.”
The Texas National Guard and state troopers will continue working to secure the border, based on the state’s right to defend itself in lieu of the federal government doing its job, Abbott said. The Texas Military Department, which includes the state’s National Guard units, issued a statement on Tuesday pledging to “hold the line” to prevent illegal border crossings. “We remain resolute in our actions to secure our border, preserve the rule of law and protect the sovereignty of our state.”
US Representative Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, applauded Abbott’s decision to fight Biden on the border crisis. “Washington is forcing our hand,” he said of Monday’s Supreme Court ruling. He added, “Consider that we are a nation so unserious and broken that we are paying Border Patrol to secure the border but will pay them instead to cut razor wire... to stop Texas from trying to do what Border Patrol’s core mission is.”