Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has the backing of fellow GOP governors in his battle with the federal government over border authority.
Abbott appears to be stepping up his control along the border with Mexico, as the Texas National Guard continued to build razor wire barriers, preventing the federal Border Patrol from removing them, in the aftermath of a Supreme Court ruling allowing the Biden adminstration to do so.
In a statement Wednesday, Abbott justified the move, claiming his authority to combat an “invasion” of the state “supersedes” federal law.
GOP Govs. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Ron DeSantis of Florida, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia and Brian Kemp of Georgia have all said they, too, back Abbott’s actions.
“If the Constitution really made states powerless to defend themselves against an invasion, it wouldn’t have been ratified in the first place and Texas would have never joined the union when it did,” DeSantis said in a post on X. “TX is upholding the law while Biden is flouting it.”
Youngkin weighed in as well, writing the Biden administration “has turned every state into a border state,” and that Abbott is doing what the border officials “refuse to do to secure our border.”
Stitt and Kemp also said their states “stand with” Texas.
The federal government has claimed in court filings the Texas National Guard has physically prevented the Border Patrol from doing its job on certain parts of the Rio Grande, as well as blocked off portions of the border previously used to process migrants, The Hill reported.
The claim that Texas officials can supersede federal authority has sparked calls from Democrats for President Joe Biden to nationalize the Texas National Guard and force them to follow the court’s decision and federal law, the outlet noted.
Abbott’s statement specifically claims the federal government has “broken the compact” with the states, justifying ignoring federal law and the Supreme Court.
The compact theory is a now-rejected idea of state supremacy; it was used to justify the secession of Confederate states during the Civil War.