More than half of US governors support the proposal Texas‘ Greg Abbott in his bitter standoff with the president Joe Biden about who should have the authority to arrest migrants at the border.
Abbott reaffirmed the state’s right to protect its own border after the Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration could remove razor wire that Texas had built along high-traffic areas along the border.
Meanwhile, Texas Border Czar Mike Banks told ranchers on Wednesday that the state could install razor wire on their private property for free, the state official told a packed room of ranchers meeting just outside Eagle Pass, Texas.
Abbott said the federal government was failing in its duty to enforce laws and that states had every right to intervene to protect their borders.
While Democrats have criticized Abbott, Republican governors from 25 states — every Republican governor except Phil Scott of Vermont, who voted for Biden in 2020 — signed a letter supporting Texas’ “constitutional right to self-defense.”
More than half of US governors back Texas’ Greg Abbott in his bitter standoff with President Joe Biden over who should have the authority to arrest migrants at the border
“President Biden and his administration have left Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration flowing across the southern border,” they wrote.
“Instead of upholding the rule of law and securing the border, the Biden administration has targeted and sued Texas over its efforts to protect American citizens from historic levels of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorists entering our country the report continued.
“We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in deploying every tool and strategy, including razor wire fencing, to secure the border.
We are doing this in part because the Biden administration refuses to enforce immigration laws that are already on the books, and is illegally allowing mass paroles across America of migrants who have entered our country illegally.”
They believe Texas must take action because the Biden administration has “abandoned” its duty under the Constitution to defend the border.
The signatories included several high-profile Republican governors, including former presidential candidates Ron DeSantis of Florida and Doug Burgum of North Dakota, as well as Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Sarah Sanders of Arkansas.
Four governors — Brian Kemp of Georgia, Joe Lombardo of Nevada, Chris Sununu of New Hampshire and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia — represent the states Biden won in the 2020 election.
Meanwhile, Texas Border Czar Mike Banks told ranchers Wednesday that the state could install razor wire on their private property for free, the state official told a packed room of ranchers meeting just outside Eagle Pass, Texas.
Abbott again accused Biden on Thursday of dereliction of duty at the border.
Abbott reaffirmed the state’s right to protect its own border after the Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration could remove razor wire that Texas had built along heavily trafficked areas of the border
The signatories included several prominent Republican governors, including former presidential candidate Ron DeSantis of Florida
Texas Border Czar Mike Banks (center, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott) told ranchers they could have barbed wire installed on their properties for free
Texas placed razor wire in Shelby Park, in the migrant hotspot of Eagle Pass, Texas, for more than a year
“The executive branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws that protect states, including immigration laws currently on the books,” Abbott said. “President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even broken them.”
The governor is embroiled in multiple legal disputes with the Biden administration over the seizure of a portion of the U.S. border in Eagle Pass, Texas. This week, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could tear down razor wire that Abbott had installed along the border in Eagle Pass.
However, Texas officials said the ruling has only limited application to the wire and does not settle the issue escalating impasse on whether the state or federal government has the authority to secure the border in the hotspot of Eagle Pass, Texas.
Abbott also installed floating barriers in the Rio Grande, which later failed a legal battle and were removed, and recently signed a new law allowing state law enforcement agencies to arrest and immediately deport migrants.
On Abbott’s orders, Texas soldiers fenced Shelby Park with razor wire and other fencing on Jan. 10, even though the land is owned by the City of Eagle Pass.
Abbott claimed the measure was intended to stem the historic number of illegal immigrants in Shelby Park in recent weeks.
In the week before Christmas, more than 22,000 asylum-seeking migrants crossed the river that divides the U.S. from Mexico into Shelby Park to enter Eagle Pass, which has a population of just 28,000.
Garments and other personal belongings discarded by illegal immigrants before being taken into custody by Border Patrol agents in Eagle Pass this week
The Supreme Court did not rule that the fencing Texas installed was illegal. The Supreme Court said only that federal agents could cut or move it if necessary
Texas took control of Shelby Park (pictured above) on January 10. Since then, Border Patrol agents have not had full access to the park
The Supreme Court allows Border Patrol agents to remove razor wire installed by Texas on the border with Mexico
Federal Border Patrol agents are in a standoff with Texas state troopers at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass
The influx strained resources and cost local taxpayers thousands of dollars a day.
However, the feud escalated after Border Patrol agents alleged that Texas National Guard troops stopped them from entering state-controlled territory to help save a migrant woman and two children from drowning.
The state claimed that the migrants had already drowned when the Border Patrol was notified.
Biden’s Justice Department filed a request with the Supreme Court late Monday to force the state to grant Border Patrol agents access.
The razor wire is part of Abbott’s border security plan, known as Operation Lone Star.
Many of Abbott’s Operation Lone Star initiatives, launched in March 2021, have been controversial and have placed the Republican governor and White House over jurisdiction.
Abbott has also placed buoys in the Rio Grande as a deterrent, but these are also embroiled in a legal battle.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration filed a lawsuit to block a new law in Texas that gives state officials the power to essentially deport people suspected of crossing the border illegally.