(LifeSiteNews) —Twenty-five states have declared their support for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as he secures his southern border in defiance of the Biden administration’s efforts to remove razor wire there.
On Thursday, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and 24 fellow Republican governors issued a statement backing Gov. Abbott’s use of “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 governors declared.
They noted that “Instead of upholding the rule of law and securing the border, the Biden Administration has attacked and sued Texas for stepping up to protect American citizens from historic levels of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorists entering our country.”
In October, Texas sued the Biden administration after Border Patrol agents cut portions of the razor wire along the Rio Grande border, decrying the Department of Homeland Security’s destruction of state property and obstruction of Texas’ border security efforts.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow federal border-patrol agents to cut down wire erected by the state, NPR reported, vacating a previous injunction from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that prevented the federal agents from dismantling the wire. Trump-appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett cast the deciding vote, siding with the court’s four liberals.
Despite the decision, Republican Gov. Abbott released a statement on Wednesday accusing President Joe Biden of “violat[ing] his oath to faithfully execute immigration laws enacted by Congress” by suing Texas for taking action to secure its border instead of prosecuting immigrants who have illegally entered the country.
BREAKING: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott releases statement outlining states’ rights to constitutional self-defense when dealing with a “lawless president” pic.twitter.com/dUjw8Fvok9
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) January 24, 2024
Abbott declared that the “failure of the Biden Administration to fulfill the duties imposed by Article IV, § 4,” which promises that the federal government “shall protect each [State] against invasion,” 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 … The Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other Texas personnel are acting on that authority, as well as state law, to secure the Texas border,” Abbott wrote.
Noem declared Thursday in a post on X that the Southern border is a “warzone.”
Our Southern Border is a warzone.
When I visited the border over the summer, I saw just how much Joe Biden has deteriorated our national security.
I will continue to support @GregAbbott_TX in his fight to secure our Southern Border. pic.twitter.com/93JF5D9g0P
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) January 25, 2024
Pointing out that U.S. “sovereignty” is under threat, Noem said in an address alongside Gov. Abbott posted to X, “the cartels are out for blood and they are facilitating the trafficking of our children each and every day. That’s what I find so shocking about the way that Biden continuously violates federal law is the lack of humanity in these policies.”
Other state governors supporting Texas’ right to secure its border drew attention to the dangers illegal immigration has posed to our country, including “a massive flow of illegal drugs, national security and terrorism risks, and a humanitarian crisis,” as Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen noted on X.
The failure to secure our border has created a massive flow of illegal drugs, national security and terrorism risks, and a humanitarian crisis. I was proud to order Nebraska State Troopers and National Guard to the border last year, and Nebraska is proud to stand with Texas now. https://t.co/uALSOhdIup
— Governor Jim Pillen (@TeamPillen) January 25, 2024
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry chimed in, “We stand with Governor Abbott and Texas in reminding the federal government that under our constitution, states are still sovereign, and we have the right to protect our citizens.
Louisiana stands with Texas.
Enough is enough. pic.twitter.com/MqC5x3RlOt— GovJeffLandry (@LAGovJeffLandry) January 25, 2024
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson highlighted the fact that the fentanyl crisis has been exacerbated by open borders enabling the flow of dangerous drugs into the country:
The fentanyl crisis is here and is tearing families and communities apart. Children dying from fentanyl is 100 percent preventable. While President Biden and the federal government fail to do their job by securing our southern border, Missouri will act.
— Governor Mike Parson (@GovParsonMO) January 24, 2024
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte pointed out that “since Joe Biden took office, more than 10 million illegal immigrants have crossed our open southern border,” which is “10x the population of Montana.”
Idaho Gov. Brad Little, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and other governors individually voiced their support of Abbott on X.
Biden has presided over a surge of illegals entering the United States after the reversal of several Trump-era border policies, such as the previous administration’s third-country agreements with the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to have them hold refugees while applications for political asylum in America were reviewed.
The situation has created a humanitarian crisis, prompting even the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) to declare America’s southern border with Mexico the “deadliest land crossing in the world” in 2022.
Gov. Noem was joined by the following Republican governors in issuing the statement in support of Governor Abbott:
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Idaho Gov. Brad Little, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon.