Multiple U.S. congressmen from Texas have said that President Joe Biden should take control of the Texas National Guard in response to the ongoing standoff at the southern border.
These comments come amid growing animosity between Texas and the federal government over how to manage the unlawful migration crisis. Texas recently seized control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, claiming that the federal government has been allowing unlawful border crossings to occur.
The most recent legal development came on Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to vacate an injunction preventing federal agents from cutting concertina wire the state had placed as a barrier along the border. Shortly after the SCOTUS ruling, Texas added additional concertina wire along the border to deter unlawful crossings.
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, the following day, accusing Gov. Greg Abbott of using the Texas National Guard to “obstruct and create chaos at the border.”
“If Abbott is defying yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, @POTUS needs to establish sole federal control of the Texas National Guard now,” continued Castro in the post.
Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) expressed similar views on X, claiming in a thread that Abbott has “continued to use political stunts and inflammatory language to advance his own agenda, violating the Constitution and endangering both U.S. citizens and asylum seekers.”
A subsequent post by Casar states that “it’s our job to check power-hungry, anti-immigrant officials who only seek to create chaos.”
Casar said in another post that he agrees with the statements made by Castro, writing that “if Abbott is defying yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, @POTUS needs to establish sole federal control of the Texas National Guard.”
Despite Casar accusing Abbott of defying the SCOTUS ruling, which vacated an injunction preventing federal agents from cutting concertina wire along the border, the actions taken by the Texas National Guard actually seem to be in compliance. The ruling allows federal agents to cut wire placed by state law enforcement officers, but nothing appears to prevent the state from deploying additional concertina wire along the border.
There is currently no indication of what steps the federal government will take in response to the Shelby Park seizure. However, the Biden administration reportedly gave Texas a Friday deadline to remove state troops from the park.
This dispute unfolded against the backdrop of an unprecedented number of unlawful migrants crossing into the country, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reporting record-high numbers of encounters in recent months.
CBP officially reported on Friday that there were 302,034 encounters with unlawful migrants at the southern border in December, breaking the previous monthly record of 269,735 encounters in September.
Multiple states have offered their support to Texas amidst the dispute, with 25 Republican governors signing a joint statement in support of Texas’ constitutional right to self-defense.
Similarly, Abbott spoke with Tucker Carlson on Friday and said 10 states have provided resources to help support the Lone Star State at the southern border.
“There have been about 10 so far that have sent National Guard or other law enforcement. They now are joined together with us. This is a fight for the future of America, and they all know it. And so I believe that they will all be in on this effort,” explained the governor.
