POLITICS
Which states have pledged to send National Guard troops to Texas and the Southern Border?
Over a dozen GOP-led states have pledged to send National Guard troops to Texas, in direct opposition to the Supreme Court’s recent decision.
The US-Mexico border in Texas has become the focal point in a growing standoff between the federal and state governments.
After federal border patrol agents were unable to rescue three migrants who drowned in the Rio Grande, the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to clarify whether Texas had the authority to build physical barriers to prevent migrants from entering the country. The court sided with the Biden administration, arguing that it is the federal government that has the ultimate authority over immigration and control of the country’s borders.
Texas Governor escalates the stand-off with the federal government
Texas Governor Greg Abbott responded to the court’s decision by calling on state law enforcement agencies to erect more fencing made primarily of razor wire —further escalating the conflict. Gov. Abbott also argued that the increase in migrants, many of whom are looking to seek asylum in the United States, constitutes an “invasion,” thus giving the state the authority to defend itself.
“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,” argued Gov. Abbott.
Citing the constitution, the Texas leader is asserting that the state has the right to self-defense because the federal government abdicated its responsibility to protect the country from an “invasion.” However, referring to migrants, many of whom are looking to seek asylum, as invaders is a dangerous proposition that places the state in direct opposition to the federal government and creates a constitutional crisis on who has the ultimate authority at the border. Further, federal officials and immigrant rights groups have argued that referring to migrants in this way is dehumanizing and endangers not only migrants but also border patrol agents and the natural environment in areas where barbed wire fences are erected.
Which governors have pledged support to Texas?
To support Texas, the governors of over twenty states have pledged to send troops. Florida’s Ron DeSantis posted a video arguing that if the Constitution allowed states to be invaded without intervention from the federal government, the country’s founding legal document would never have been ratified. This line of argumentation ignores that while Texas borders Mexico, the border does not belong to the state, it belongs to the country, which is where the federal government derives its legal supremacy.
The only Republican governor who has not pledged to send National Guard troops to Texas to ‘defend’ the Southern border from an ‘invasion’ is Phil Scott of Vermont. All others have responded to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s call to defend the use of razor wire by sending or promising to send troops under their command to the Lone Star state.
The governors released a joint statement on 25 January that reaffirmed their solidarity with Greg Abbott and the state’s right to use “every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border.”
“The authors of the U.S. Constitution made clear that in times like this, states have a right of self-defense, under Article 4, Section 4 and Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution. Because the Biden Administration has abdicated its constitutional compact duties to the states, Texas has every legal justification to protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation.”
The White House has yet to respond to the statement.