In its coverage of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent trip to the White House, Fox News acknowledged the shift on display. Where the Biden administration threw open our borders, and fought Texas’s attempts to enforce the law, the Trump administration is embracing Abbott’s actions.
Abbott’s deputizing the Texas National Guard to help the Border Patrol is just the next logical step. “It would be hard to find another governor who has done more to support, and help implement and endorse, Trump’s hardline border security and immigration agenda,” Fox News reported.” Texas, under Abbott’s leadership,” the article continued, “has spent billions of dollars on border security the past couple of years under Operation Lone Star. And this week, Abbott, in an unprecedented move, gave Texas National Guard soldiers the power to arrest undocumented immigrants in coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.”
Of course, Abbott’s decision to deputize the National Guard has come under fire from the party of open borders. “It’s likely to lead to harassment and racial profiling of Mexican Americans and other Hispanics in South Texas and the border region,” claimed Texas Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro.
But here’s the reality: The Biden administration’s efforts to undermine the rule of law have left the Border Patrol undermanned and underfunded. Abbott’s actions are lawful—troops have been used at the border for decades. “Military forces have been on the border continuously since the establishment of JTF-6 in 1989 to help combat drug smuggling,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies explains. “The levels have varied depending on the perceived level of need, the availability of forces, and the politics of immigration but continued in both Republican and Democratic administrations.”
What happens next?
Some Democratic-run states and cities say they’ll remain “sanctuaries” for illegal immigrants, including violent criminals. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy even claims he is thinking about housing an illegal immigrant in his garage apartment. As he put it, “good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her.”
Not everyone is so recalcitrant. Out in Nevada, Attorney General Aaron Ford, a gubernatorial hopeful, once sponsored legislation to make Nevada a sanctuary state. Now he supports enforcing the law. “Keeping our communities safe is not a controversial statement,” Ford told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It is my job, and I intend to do that, and I support policies that do that.”
Ford, a Democrat, knows he must change his tune on the border. Not only did President Trump win Nevada by three points, the state now has more registered Republicans than Democrats.
What other sanctuary states and cities are missing is that this moment represents a great political sea-change. Trump was very clear about what he was running on, and securing the border was at the top of his list. Voters went for it.
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Sanctuary states and cities also can’t afford the illegal immigration crisis brought about by the Biden administration. Indeed, while President Joe Biden was in office, New York, Chicago, and Denver were all pleading for federal funds to help them pay for their own irresponsible policies.
Gov. Abbott has set an example to follow. He has shown how states can come alongside and assist the federal government in enforcing the law. Many states such as Florida, Tennessee, and South Dakota have already sent their own National Guard troops to support Texas. It’s time for the others to step up.
The Honorable Robert Henneke is the Executive Director and General Counsel at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.