Abbott Asserts Texas’ Right to Self-Defense amid Border Surge

by Ben Whedon

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday reiterated the right of the state of Texas to defend itself amid an unprecedented surge in illegal border crossings, insisting that the Biden administration had failed in its duties and forced Austin’s hand.

Abbott and the federal government have, for months, quarreled over the state’s unilateral effort to secure the border amid perceived federal apathy: Operation Lone Star. The effort has prompted multiple legal battles, including a dispute over the state’s deployment of a razor wire fence along the Rio Grande that saw the Supreme Court this week permit federal agents to cut through the fence.

In a statement posted to X on Wednesday, Abbot excoriated the Biden administration, saying that Biden had “violated his oath to faithfully execute immigration laws enacted by Congress.”

He further insisted that “Biden has instructed his agencies to ignore federal statues that mandate the detention of illegal immigrants” and that he had “enticed illegal immigrants away from the 28 legal entry points along the State’s southern border.”

Accordingly, he asserted that the Biden administration had triggered the constitutional duties of the state to defend itself.

“That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary,” he declared.

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Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.
Photo “Greg Abbott” by Office of the Governor Greg Abbott.