Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley threw her support behind Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in his fight with the federal government over border authority, stating the Biden administration’s position is “absolutely ridiculous.”
“Governor Abbott is right: the state of Texas has every right to defend itself and its borders,” Haley wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “It’s absolutely ridiculous that Joe Biden is trying to stop governors from doing everything they can to protect their citizens.”
Her show of support comes amid Abbott’s ongoing standoff with the Biden administration over the fencing and razor wire Texas has installed at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Haley’s support joins a series of Republican governors and lawmakers who have publicly backed Abbott’s actions.
“But it’s also nothing new; Biden was part of the administration that sued me when I passed one of the toughest anti-illegal immigration laws in the country as governor of South Carolina,” Haley added.
This was a likely reference to a federal court decision in 2012 that blocked portions of South Carolina’s anti-immigrant law when Haley was the state governor and Biden was vice president under former President Obama.
Tensions escalated earlier this month when the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety installed fences and razor wire in a riverside park in Eagle Pass, Texas, and blocked park access to Border Patrol officials.
The Supreme Court ruled earlier this week border agents can remove the razor wire erected on the U.S.-Mexico border, dealing a major blow to Abbott, who has argued the fencing is needed for his state’s security.
The federal government, meanwhile, has argued the Lone Star State does not have the authority to build the fencing, which it claims illegally prevents them from managing the border.
Texas appeared to continue building razor wire after the ruling this week, and Abbott on Wednesday asserted his authority to combat the influx of migrants — which he called an “invasion” of the state — “supersedes” federal law.
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