President Joe Biden must ‘get out of the way’ so Texas can secure its southern border with Mexico, 26 Republican attorneys general demand in scathing letter

More than two dozen Republican attorneys general have signed a letter supporting Texas’ right to defend its borders against migrant invasion, telling President Biden to “get out of the way.”

In a blistering rebuke of President Joe Biden’s border crisis, 26 attorneys general expressed support for Texas’ continued efforts to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

The letter condemns Biden and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for hampering Texas’ efforts to stem the flow of migrants entering the state illegally.

The letter’s release is timely, as the Supreme Court voted 5-4 last week to temporarily overturn a lower court’s order that barred federal officials from cutting barbed wire fences that Texas had erected along its border while the lawsuit continues.

The authors allege that Border Patrol officials reporting to Mayorkas repeatedly cut holes in razor wire at a site in Texas to allow migrants into the country illegally.

In one case, the letter says, Border Patrol used a forklift to move barriers placed by Texas to allow a group of more than 300 migrants to enter the state illegally.

“The federal government needs to secure the border, and if it’s not going to do that, they shouldn’t try to stop Texas from doing the work they just don’t want to do,” said Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, who organizes the organization. organized the border crossing. letter, Fox News said in an interview Monday.

“If the administration put half as much effort into securing the border as it has been fighting with Texas to get Texas to do the work that they normally wouldn’t do, I think this issue would be a lot better off right now,” he added. them to it.

The letter is signed by the attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

“Millions of people illegally entering Texas as part of a coordinated attack on our border is an invasion,” the attorneys general wrote, adding that “states must be able to defend themselves against an invasion.”

“What you need to do is simple: enforce the law and protect the border,” the AGs said. “If you can’t bring yourself to enforce the law, get out of the way so Texas can.”

Supreme Court ruling allows Border Patrol officials to cut barbed wire barriers built by Texas along southern border

Texas, meanwhile, has continued to fortify the border and has signaled its refusal to comply with the administration’s demands.

Texas Governor Abbott has asserted the state’s “right to self-defense” against what he has called an “invasion” of migrants, stating: “(President Biden’s) actions have created an unprecedented invasion that we must defend against .’

The authors also write that Texas should be recognized for its efforts to secure its borders, despite federal interventions that do the opposite.

“Texas should be applauded for continuing to try to protect the border, despite the federal government now once again being able to destroy the barriers Texas has erected,” the attorney general wrote.

More than six million migrants have entered the country illegally since Biden took office, according to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

December set a record for the most encounters with migrants in a single month – more than 302,000 – not including ‘escapes’ – migrants who entered the country illegally without being detected. The same month, 19 people were found on the FBI’s terrorist watch list.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration was ‘delighted’ after hearing the results of the Supreme Court ruling

The ruling does not ban Texas National Guard soldiers from building barriers along the border

The wire was installed by the Texas National Guard to deter migrants from entering the US from Mexico

However, Border Patrol officials have indicated they will not work to remove the barriers put in place by Texas.

“In short, Border Patrol has no plans to remove the infrastructure (c-wire) placed by Texas along the border,” a senior CBP official told Fox News.

In another recently released letter, former FBI and DHS officials wrote a chilling warning to congressional leaders, saying the continued invasion of young men from terror-linked regions in the US is creating an “unprecedented and imminent danger” .

The border crisis has become so pronounced that Republicans in Congress are preparing to oust the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The Republican-controlled House Homeland Security Committee will vote on articles of impeachment against the DHS secretary on Tuesday, with the aim of sending them to the full House for consideration.

If House Speaker Mike Johnson were presented with an article of impeachment, he said Friday he would push for a vote as soon as possible.

At the same time, Senate leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell have been negotiating a deal to address the border crisis for months.

That deal, which would link US foreign aid to Ukraine to a new domestic immigration policy, is dead on arrival in the House of Representatives, Speaker Johnson has indicated.

And to the frustration of many Republican senators, negotiators are still working to make progress on the bill this week.