Texas Gov. Greg Abbott received the support Thursday of all but one of the nation’s Republican state governors in his feud with the Biden administration over border security.
GOP governors from 25 states signed onto a joint statement in support of Abbott and the Lone Star State’s “constitutional right to self-defense” days after the US Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration could remove razor wire installed by Texas along a 30-mile stretch of land near the US-Mexico border in Eagle Pass.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, who says he voted for President Biden in 2020, was the only GOP holdout.
“We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border,” the statement released by the Republican Governor’s Association read.
“We do it in part because the Biden Administration is refusing to enforce immigration laws already on the books and is illegally allowing mass parole across America of migrants who entered our country illegally.”
“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 statement concludes.
Abbott on Wednesday proclaimed that Texas’ right to self-defense “supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary,” and he vowed to “continue to deploy this razor wire to repel illegal immigration,” arguing that it’s an “effective deterrent against the illegal border crossings encouraged by Biden’s open border policies.”
Several of the Republican governors that signed the joint statement have also issued individual declarations of support for Texas and some have pledged to provide the state with resources to combat illegal migrant crossing.
“I am willing to send National Guard down there to stand alongside,” South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said during an appearance on Fox News, noting that she has already done so in the past.
“I want it to be a different arrangement this time,” she added. “If we’re going to enforce Texas law and if I’m going to have the ability to use these soldiers in a way that’s effective, that’ll be absolutely fantastic.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called the situation at the southern border “untenable” and the Biden administration’s immigration policies “a total failure” in a tweet vowing to back Texas in its standoff with the feds.
“Ohio will continue to do our part to support Texas and support policies to secure our border,” he said, noting that the Ohio National Guard has had a “continuous presence on the border since October 2020.”
“If President Biden won’t defend us, states will have to defend themselves. Arkansas stands with Texas,” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted,
“The Biden Administration continues to refuse to secure the border. Virginia supports [Abbott] and Texas’ constitutional right to defend itself,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin wrote on X.
The Lone Star State and the Biden administration have been at loggerheads over immigration enforcement amid record-levels of illegal border-crossings that Abbott says has overwhelmed towns along the US-Mexico border.
Last month, the Justice Department threatened to sue Texas if it enforced a new law that allows state authorities to arrest, jail, prosecute and deport migrants who enter the country illegally.
The DOJ also sued the state over its construction of a floating barrier in the Rio Grande, which courts have ordered Abbott to remove.
Texas has bused over 95,000 migrants to sanctuary cities, including New York and Chicago, as part of an effort to get President Biden to “reverse course on his open border policies,” according to Abbott.
