Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doubled down Wednesday on the state’s “constitutional right to self-defense” days after the Supreme Court ruled the Biden Administration could have the Texas National Guard remove barbed wire to keep illegal migrants out.
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision Monday, agreed to vacate an injunction that temporarily blocked Border Patrol from cutting wire Texas had placed along the border. Texas authorities doubled down on their border security measures, with a video circulating on social media showing authorities setting up razor wire for the border in Eagle Pass, Texas.
The case made its way to the high court after the Biden Administration sued.
Abbott doubled down on the state’s response, invoking the Founding Fathers. (RELATED: Agents ‘Absolutely’ Don’t Want To Cut Greg Abbott’s Razor Wire, Border Patrol Union President Says)
“The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States. 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,” Abbott said in a statement. “President Biden has ignored Texas’s demand that he perform his constitutional duties.”
“James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and the other visionaries who wrote the U.S. Constitution foresaw that States should not be left to the mercy of a lawless president who does nothing to stop external threats like cartels smuggling millions of illegal immigrants across the border,” Abbott continued, citing Article IV Section 4 which says the federal government “shall protect each [State] against invasion” and Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 which says the states have a “sovereign interest in protecting their borders.”
“The failure of the Biden Administration to fulfill the duties imposed by Article IV, § 4 has triggered Article I, § 10, Clause 3, which reserves to this State the right of self-defense. For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary. The Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other Texas personnel are acting on that authority, as well as state law, to secure the Texas border.”
Border Patrol agents have recorded a record-breaking amount of illegal migrants. More than 2.2 million illegal migrant encounters were recorded in fiscal year 2022 at the southern border and more than 2 million in fiscal year 2023, federal data shows.
Texas authorities took control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass on Jan. 11 after Abbott declared an emergency. The Department of Homeland Security then alleged that Texas prevented Border Patrol agents from responding to a drowning two days later. Biden’s Department of Justice then admitted in a Jan. 15 court filing that by the time federal authorities were notified of the drownings, the incident had already occurred.