WASHINGTON — More razor wire is going up along the Texas’ border with Mexico, under orders from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The move takes place even after the Supreme Court on Monday decided the federal government has the right to cut it down as a legal challenge plays out. And despite one demand after another by President Joe Biden’s administration, Abbott continues using members of the state’s National Guard to block U.S. Border Patrol agents from entering a 47-acre park on the border in Eagle Pass.

What You Need To Know

  • Despite one demand after another by President Joe Biden’s administration, Gov. Greg Abbott continues using members of the state’s National Guard to block U.S. Border Patrol agents from entering a 47-acre park on the border in Eagle Pass

  • Texas Democrats are calling on Biden to seize control of the Texas National Guard if Abbott continues using the state’s soldiers to block federal operations at the border and defying a Supreme Court decision allowing federal law enforcement to cut Texas' razor wire 

  • Abbott has insisted the State of Texas has a right to defend itself from the unprecedented levels of unlawful border crossings by migrants, and Republicans in Congress are cheering Abbott on

“It's really dangerous, and it is making an already tough situation much, much worse,” Beto O’Rourke, a former Congressman and Democratic nominee for Texas governor, told Spectrum News.

“The irony here is that for all of what Abbott is saying about Biden's failure on immigration, the governor literally will not allow Border Patrol agents, these federal agents under Biden's supervision, to do their job,” O'Rourke continued. 

O’Rourke, who also raised concerns about Abbott’s rhetoric, is among the Texas Democrats who are calling on Biden to seize control of the Texas National Guard if Abbott continues using the state’s soldiers to block federal operations at the border. 

When asked what the precedent was for federalizing the Texas National Guard, O’Rourke said, “Guards in various states have been federalized by various presidents for various reasons over time.” 

“It can be the right thing to do if the governor will not stand down, and I think we also have to acknowledge the governor's missteps and mistakes when it comes to calling up involuntarily members of the Guard,” he continued. 

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, also suggested the governor was misusing the state’s National Guard and raised concerns about the number of troopers who died and died by suicide since the start of Abbott’s multibillion-dollar border initiative, Operation Lone Star.

“Texas National Guard troops volunteered to serve their country – not to be pawns in Governor Abbott’s attempts to sow chaos at the border. Republicans have demonstrated, once again, that they like to use the border as a big political issue but don’t actually want to solve anything,” Castro said in part in a statement to Spectrum News.

Abbott has insisted the State of Texas has a right to defend itself from the unprecedented levels of unlawful border crossings by migrants, if, as he contends, the federal government is not doing enough to deter them. In a recent statement, the Republican leader of Texas accused the Biden administration of breaking “the compact” between the federal government and the states. 

“James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and the other visionaries who wrote the U.S. Constitution foresaw that States should not be left to the mercy of a lawless president who does nothing to stop external threats like cartels smuggling millions of illegal immigrants across the border,” Abbott said.

Many Texas Republicans in Congress are cheering Abbott on. This comes following recent developments that suggest former President Donald Trump may be the latest barrier to a border deal. Trump, who is fresh off a win in the New Hampshire primary, is pressuring Senate Republicans to kill any agreement in order to keep the surge of migrants entering the U.S. a key pillar of his campaign. 

Rep. Keith Self, R-McKinney, insists to Spectrum News, though, that for him the border “is not a campaign issue.” Like many GOP lawmakers in the House, Self believes the chamber’s sweeping border security bill, H.R. 2 is the “minimum standard to change behavior on the border.”

“It is now the issue in America,” Self said. “It has overtaken the economy as the number one issue. Absolutely, I stand with Governor Abbott, as do 17 other governors across the United States. This is gaining momentum. This is progressing into a real movement of the American people.”

Self said a trucker convoy is heading to the U.S. Mexico border and will hold separate rallies in Texas, Arizona and California. He plans to join the rally in Eagle Pass.

“The American people are saying enough. If the federal government will not secure the border, we will support the governors that do,” he added. 

Much was made of the Supreme Court’s decision Monday asserting that federal agents have the right to take down the state’s razor wire. But a more profound legal battle is looming over a new Texas law that says state and local law enforcement can deport foreigners who are in Texas illegally. Enforcing immigration law has long been a federal responsibility, not a state function. 

“The Supreme Court has not ruled on the constitutional issue here. We need to make that very clear. They have not ruled on the constitutional issue of Texas having the constitutional right to defend ourselves,” Self said.

Biden seizing control of the state’s National Guard would infuriate Republicans in Texas, and White House officials would not say if the president is considering it. Instead, they say Republicans in Congress should support Biden’s request for billions of dollars in new funding for border security.