Arizona v. United States decided that states could not defend their own borders from an illegal alien invasion. As I wrote in December, the odds of the Supreme Court doing the right thing here was almost nil. Roberts predictably did not switch his vote and Amy Coney Barrett (one of the new three can almost always be counted on to stab us in the back) decided to side with the Biden administration in insisting that it could tear down the defenses put up by Texas against the illegal alien mass invasion.
The Republic of Texas however is standing strong.
Governor Greg Abbott today issued a statement on Texas’ constitutional right to defend and protect itself as President Joe Biden continues to attack Texas and refuse to perform his duties to secure the border.
“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,” reads the statement. “President Biden has instructed his agencies to ignore federal statutes that mandate the detention of illegal immigrants. 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. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.”
And 25 governors have joined in its defense.
“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. 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.
“The authors of the U.S. Constitution made clear that in times like this, states have a right of self-defense, under Article 4, Section 4 and Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution. 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.”
Signatories include: Governor Kay Ivey (AL), Governor Mike Dunleavy (AK), Governor Sarah Sanders (AR), Governor Ron DeSantis (FL), Governor Brian Kemp (GA), Governor Brad Little (ID), Governor Eric Holcomb (IN), Governor Kim Reynolds (IA), Governor Jeff Landry (LA), Governor Tate Reeves (MS), Governor Mike Parson (MO), Governor Greg Gianforte (MT), Governor Jim Pillen (NE), Governor Joe Lombardo (NV), Governor Chris Sununu (NH), Governor Doug Burgum (ND), Governor Mike DeWine (OH), Governor Kevin Stitt (OK), Governor Henry McMaster (SC), Governor Kristi Noem (SD), Governor Bill Lee (TN), Governor Spencer Cox (UT), Governor Glenn Youngkin (VA), Governor Jim Justice (WV), and Governor Mark Gordon (WY).
A question is whether they’ll provide further support and materials for securing the border.
For now there’s a standoff.
Texas will keep on putting up wire and the Border Patrol will keep taking it down. Of course, any time that the Border Patrol has to spend removing Texas defenses, is time that it won’t be able to spend escorting illegal alien invaders into America.
The question is what happens if Texas escalates to defenses that are more difficult to remove. Before leaving office, Gov. Ducey in Arizona was putting up shipping containers. There are defenses Texas could put up that wouldn’t be removed with wire cutters.
And what happens if the Supreme Court rules to explicitly order Texas to cease and desist?
What happens if Biden moves to seize control over the Guard?
Those are explosive questions.that may well end up testing the limits of federal authority.
Democrat states had argued that they had the legal authority to defy the federal government when it came to immigration law producing ‘sanctuary states’. The legal double standard has been that Democrat states can defy the federal government to protect illegal aliens, but that Republican states can’t defy the federal government to keep illegal aliens out.
As cities are overrun with illegal aliens, the Biden administration is in a standoff that is not going to be popular with a public in blue states already drowning in illegal alien invaders.
Do states have a right to defend their own borders? Does America have a right to protect itself?