Image Credit: Illinois State Rep. Brad Halbrook
The Center Square [By Kim Jarrett] –
Twenty-five Republican governors said Thursday they back Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to defend the state’s border with Mexico.
Abbott invoked the invasion clause of the U.S. Constitution on Wednesday and said the federal government broke its compact with the states.
The “Guarantee Clause” of the U.S. Constitution (Article IV, Section 4) “promises that the federal government ‘shall protect each [State] against invasion.” Fifty-one Texas counties have declared an invasion, citing an imminent threat created by transnational criminal organizations bringing in enough fentanyl to kill the entire state’s population, and expressing support to defend Texas’ sovereignty.
The governors said they support Abbott.
“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 governors said.
The Biden administration sued Texas over the placement of wire barriers at the border in Eagle Pass. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday reversed a decision by a lower court that stopped the federal government from removing the wire.
Abbott has ordered the Texas National Guard to continue building the wire barriers.
“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 governors said in a statement. “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.”
Separately, former President Donald Trump also backed Abbott and the state of Texas’ response.
“When I was President, we had the most secure Border in History. Joe Biden has surrendered our Border, and is aiding and abetting a massive Invasion of millions of Illegal Migrants into the United States,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Instead of fighting to protect our Country from this onslaught, Biden is, unbelievably, fighting to tie the hands of Governor Abbott and the State of Texas, so that the Invasion continues unchecked. In the face of this National Security, Public Safety, and Public Health Catastrophe, Texas has rightly invoked the Invasion Clause of the Constitution, and must be given full support to repel the Invasion.”
Trump and Biden appear to be headed for a rematch of the 2020 election in November.
The governors’ statement is signed by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Idaho Gov. Brad Little, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon.
