Texas Warns Joe Biden Confronting State Would Be 'Biggest Mistake'

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has said the Biden administration would be making a mistake if it confronted members of the Texas National Guard and other state units.

Fears of a standoff and tensions between federal and state units remain after a Supreme Court decision said that federal border agents could cut wire installed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star.

"The biggest mistake the Biden administration could make would be confronting law enforcement or our military, our National Guard at our border, at this park, when we are actually doing the job that the American people want," Patrick told Laura Ingraham on Fox News on January 26.

"If they come down and create a situation, all of America already knows now they will clearly see that the Democrats are willing to take on a state that is operating under our constitutional right to protect our people," Patrick added.

The strong language was in response to a question from Ingraham suggesting President Joe Biden "wants something to trigger something that will end up in some type of violence involving states versus the federal government." Patrick said he was "not concerned" at this being a situation. Newsweek approached the White House for comment on Friday.

After the court decision, Abbott posted on X, formerly Twitter: "We continue to deploy this razor wire to repel illegal immigration."

The governor has criticized "Biden's reckless open-border policies," and said that the wire is an "effective deterrent against the illegal border crossings."

The Biden administration said that the wire prevents agents from accessing key areas of the border and added that tactics employed by Abbott are cruel and inhumane on migrants.

Earlier in January, Abbott came under fire from his opponents after three people, including two children, drowned in the Rio Grande river. Texas says the Biden administration is at fault for not properly enforcing immigration legislation.

The drownings took place near a key area of the border known as Eagle Pass' Shelby Park. Texas has taken over the area, while the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has asked the state to stop preventing federal Border Patrol agents access to it.

A letter from the DHS to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on January 24, obtained by news outlets CNN and NBC, has demanded full access to the border by January 26.

The DHS said Customs and Border Protection units have been blocked from the critical area of Eagle Pass.

Abbott, who has declared it an invasion, has been supported by 25 of his fellow Republican governors. A joint statement read: "We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing 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 statement added.

This is a developing story.