Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday declared that the Lone Star State’s right to self-defense “supersedes any federal statute to the contrary” amid a spat with the Biden administration over border security.
Abbott’s statement of opposition comes in the wake of a dispute over razor wire the state has erected across the US-Mexico border despite a US Supreme Court ruling allowing the federal government to break the barrier.
“The visionaries who wrote the US Constitution predicted that the nation should not be left at the mercy of a lawless president who does nothing to stop external threats like the cartels that smuggle millions of illegal immigrants across the border,” Abbott said. .
Lone Star State Republicans argued that because the federal government had failed to protect Texas from invasion, the state had the “constitutional authority to defend” itself.
“That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statute to the contrary,” Abbott stressed.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that federal agents can remove sharp concertinas placed at border crossings.
Greg Abbott put the Biden administration on notice. Robert Miller
President Biden’s administration believes this authority is necessary so that border officials who respond to medical and other emergencies at the border are not impeded by the fence.
Texas put up wire in an effort to prevent migrants from crossing the highly trafficked site. Last year, the Lone Star State sued the Biden administration to stop the wire cutting.
Despite the decision, Abbott promised that the state would “Keep using this razor wire to drive out illegal immigrants.”
The razor wire dispute was not mentioned in his official letter about Texas’ right to self-defense. However, he claimed Biden “refused to enforce it [immigration] law and even violated it.”
President Biden has urged Congress to pass a broad border security package. AFP via Getty Images
“More than 6 million illegal immigrants have crossed our southern border in just 3 years. That’s more than the population of 33 different states in the country,” Abbott lamented.
During fiscal year 2023, a record-breaking 2,475,669 million immigrant encounters were recorded at the southern border, according to US Customs and Border Protection.
Preliminary data shows more than 300,000 migrant encounters were recorded last December.
Abbott has tested the limits of the country’s powers to combat the simmering border crisis. Under Operation Lone Star, his administration claims to have sent more than 100,000 immigrants to blue cities and made more than 496,000 illegal immigration arrests.
The Border Patrol now has the authority to cut Texas razor wire placed near the border. ZUMAPRESS.com
The governor has clashed with the Biden administration over immigration policy repeatedly. Earlier this month, the administration threatened to sue Texas if the state detains illegal immigrants through state law.
Texas has a law on the books that goes into effect in March.
The Department of Justice has sued Texas over the use of floating barriers on the Rio Grande. Texas recently got a win from an appeals court on the matter.
Texas puts up wire to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the state. Reuters
Earlier this month, Texas authorities cordoned off a park in Eagle Pass to prevent unauthorized immigrants and Border Patrol agents from entering.
The Post contacted the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
