In a letter sent out Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott notified county judges along the Texas-Mexico border that he will “fully authorize Texas to take unprecedented measures to defend our state against an invasion.” The recently reelected governor also shared portions of the letter on Twitter Tuesday morning.
Abbott’s news hits as a bus full of undocumented immigrants arrive in Philadelphia from Texas. Border states have been abandoned by the Biden administration and left to contend with the border crisis alone. Abbott’s push is to get the Federal government to take responsibility for the Biden-caused crisis at the southern border.
I invoked the Invasion Clauses of the U.S. & Texas Constitutions to fully authorize Texas to take unprecedented measures to defend our state against an invasion.
I'm using that constitutional authority, & other authorization & Executive Orders to keep our state & country safe: pic.twitter.com/2Jt5HEMgp5
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 15, 2022
In the letter, Abbott outlined steps that will be taken by the state under his constitutional authority to “keep the state and country safe,” which include deploying the National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest and turn away immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, building a border wall along counties on the border, deploying gun boats to secure the border, entering agreements with other U.S. states and foreign powers to enhance border security, and providing resources for border counties to increase their efforts to respond to the border “invasion.”
“In January 2023 when the next Congress is sworn in, we must remind our representatives in Washington that securing the border is the federal government’s responsibility,” the document read. In the letter, Abbott also called for Congress to reimburse Texas for the billions expended by the state on border security, for federal officials who refuse to follow immigration laws to face hearings and impeachment, and for Congress to safeguard troopers and guardsmen from federal prosecution for protecting against illegal border crossings. “Texas has done more than its fair share for far too long,” Abbott stated. “The time has come for the federal government to do its job.”
Texas and other states bordering Mexico have been placed under unjust pressure to financially provide for undocumented immigrants. Recently the governors of those states have made headlines sharing that burden with Democratic stronghold states like New York.
