THE BLAZE
Texas state officials rejected demands from the Biden administration to allow federal agents access to a border crossing area where the state has been setting up razor wire to stem the flow of illegal alien border crossings.
The letter sent to President Joe Biden Friday was the latest in a feud between the federal government and the right of Texas to defend itself from illegal immigration. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling said that the federal government had the right to take down the razor wire.
Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, refuted the government’s claims to deserving access to Eagle Pass.
“As I said before, this office will continue to defend Texas’s efforts to protect its southern border against every effort by the Biden Administration to undermine the State’s constitutional right of self-defense. You should advise your clients to join us in those efforts by doing their job and following the law,” wrote Paxton.
“Your request is hereby denied,” he added.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott laid out his rationale for defying the federal government in a statement made Wednesday.
“The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States. 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. The result is that he has smashed records for illegal immigration,” wrote Abbott in part.
“That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary,” Abbott continued. “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.”
Many Republicans have rushed to back Abbott’s defiance while some on the left have called on Biden to federalize the National Guard of Texas in order to reassert federal power.
Paxton’s letter Friday reiterates the claim that the actions of the government of Texas are made legally.
“Once again, I respectfully suggest that any time you might spend suing Texas should be redirected toward enforcing the immigration laws Congress already has on the books,” he wrote.
