Gov. Greg Abbott accused Biden of being a “lawless president” and invoked Texas' right to defend itself against an “invasion” on the southern border.
On Wednesday afternoon, Abbott released an angry statement saying, “President Biden has broken his oath to faithfully implement the immigration laws enacted by Congress.”
He added that he would use the “right of self-defense” to protect Texas from what he called an “invasion” of migrants at the southern border.
It is the latest escalation in a worsening dispute between the Texas governor and the president.
Texas has borne the brunt of immigration and has one of the busiest border crossings in the country at Eagle Pass – 22,000 people entered there a week before Christmas.
Abbott has thrown down the gauntlet to President Biden, calling him a “lawless president.”
In a lengthy statement released Wednesday, Abbott claimed he was invoking Texas' “right to self-defense.”
In Wednesday's statement, Abbott said, “The executive branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting the states, including the immigration laws currently in effect.”
“President Biden has broken his oath to faithfully implement immigration laws enacted by Congress.”
He further claimed that Biden had “directed his agencies to ignore federal laws requiring the detention of illegal immigrants.”
He also accused him of wasting taxpayer money and allowing migrants to be “paroled en masse” into the United States.
He added: “James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and the other visionaries who wrote the U.S. Constitution foresaw that states should not be left at the mercy of a lawless president who does nothing to stop external threats like cartels, who smuggle millions of illegal immigrants across the border.” .
“For this reason, the drafters included both Article IV, Section 4, which promises that the federal government “shall protect every individual.” [State] against invasion” and Article I, § 10, sentence 3, which recognizes “the sovereign interest of states in protecting their borders”.
He said failures by the Biden administration meant he would “invoke Texas' constitutional authority to defend and protect itself.”
Texas bore the brunt of immigration last year
Gov. Abbott has repeatedly criticized Biden over his handling of immigration
He ended by saying, “This authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes all federal laws to the contrary.”
“The Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety and other Texas personnel act based on these authorities as well as state law to secure the Texas border.”
It was not immediately clear what steps Abbott would take in “self-defense,” but this week Texas officials began arresting migrants in Eagle Pass before they had a chance to turn themselves in to U.S. immigration officials.
The arrests were the first of their kind. Normally, migrants – including those who enter the United States illegally – are allowed to present themselves to U.S. Border Patrol agents to apply for asylum.
It also follows the Biden administration's demand on Tuesday that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton allow federal agents access to Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, where state law enforcement officers have detained migrants.
It marked a worsening standoff between the state and federal government in the town of Eagle Pass.
Two weeks ago, two migrant children and their mother drowned when one of them broke the human chain crossing the Rio Grande into the United States.
Sancha Cerros, 33, her daughter Yorlei Rubi, 10, and her son Jonathan Agustín Briones de la Sancha, 8, died near the Eagle Pass crossing in Texas.
The mother and children died amid tensions between Texas and the federal government over immigration policy at the border, leading to accusations that Gov. Greg Abbott was responsible.
Yorlei Rubi, 10, and her brother Jonathan Agustín Briones de la Sancha, 8, died last Friday evening while trying to cross the Rio Grande into the United States
Their mother, Sancha Cerros, 33, died with them when one of the children let go of a human chain on the other side of the river and they were swept away
Shelby Park, a recreational area along the river, is a popular crossing spot and was recently taken over by the Texas National Guard and blocked off with fences, gates and barbed wire.
Border Patrol agents were denied access to the park two weeks ago after Mexican authorities told them that a group of migrants crossing the park was in distress.
A day before the migrants drowned, the Justice Department warned Supreme Court justices that officials in Texas had taken control of Shelby Park and were not allowing Border Patrol agents entry.
Cuellar, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security subcommittee of the House Budget Committee, called the deaths “a tragedy.”
“This is a tragedy and the state bears responsibility,” he said, accusing Texas of being responsible for the deaths.
National Guard soldiers guard the banks of the Rio Grande in Shelby Park
A National Guardsman lets a truck in at a gate at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas. The Texas Military Department confirmed that the Texas National Guard has taken control of the area
Last Monday it was clear that the three migrants had already drowned, and the blocking of the border police by guards did not change the outcome.
The Department of Homeland Security blamed the incident on Gov. Gregg Abbott and his handling of the ongoing refugee crisis in the Supreme Court.
“In response to an emergency call from the Mexican government, border patrol agents were denied entry to the park by Texas officials,” it said.
“The Texas Governor’s policies are cruel, dangerous and inhumane, and Texas’ blatant disregard for federal authority over immigration poses grave risks.”