In June 1963, John F. Kennedy federalized Alabama National Guard troops to force Alabama’s segregationist Democrat governor, George Wallace, to integrate the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Now, Joe Biden is under pressure from his party to federalize National Guard troops in Texas, but not for any morally justified cause. It’s to stop Gov. Greg Abbott from securing the southern border—something Biden refuses to do.
The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration over Abbott earlier this week by voting to allow the removal of razor wire along the U.S. southern border. Governor Abbott, taking a page out of Joe Biden’s playbook, decided to ignore the Supreme Court.
“The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States,” Abbott said in a statement Wednesday. “The Executive Branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting states, including immigration laws on the books right now. President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even violated them.”
Abbott added that Texas has a constitutional right to self-defense.
“The failure of the Biden Administration to fulfill the duties imposed by Article IV, § 4 has triggered Article I, § 10, Clause 3, which reserves to this State the right of self-defense. For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself,” Abbott added. “That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary. The Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other Texas personnel are acting on that authority, as well as state law, to secure the Texas border.”
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Naturally, Democrats aren’t happy about this. Rep. Greg Casar, (D-Texas) blasted Abbott on X/Twitter, claiming he is violating the Constitution.
“Greg 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,” Casar posted on X. “Abbott is following the Donald Trump playbook: making immigration harder and more dangerous, so asylum seekers are pushed into the hands of cartels and the system remains broken.”
Casar wasn’t alone.
“Governor Greg Abbott is using the Texas National Guard to obstruct and create chaos at the border,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) whined in a post on X/Twitter. “If Abbott is defying yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, [Joe Biden] needs to establish sole federal control of the Texas National Guard now.”
And, of course, Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke had to weigh in as well. “Abbott is using the Texas Guard to defy a Supreme Court ruling,” he said. “When Gov. Faubus did this in 1957, Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas Guard to ensure compliance with the law. Biden must follow this example of bold, decisive leadership to end this crisis before it gets worse.”
National Guard troops have only been federalized a handful of times in American history, so this is a pretty big deal. But some Democrats are hellbent on keeping a fast, steady flow of illegal immigrants into this country.
Democrats really don’t have a leg to stand on here. Joe Biden previously defied the Supreme Court after it ruled that Biden did not have the constitutional authority to unilaterally cancel student debt. And then Biden proceeded to do it anyway. Abbott is literally doing what the Constitution authorizes him to do.
Things are bound to get really ugly if Joe Biden caves to the pressure to federalize National Guard Troops.