Greg Abbott Urged To 'Fully Militarize' Texas State Guard To Counter Biden

A leading Texan nationalist has urged Governor Greg Abbott to dramatically expand and militarize the Texas State Guard if President Biden federalizes the Texas National Guard, as some Democrats are demanding, in response to the ongoing border crisis.

Texan House Democrats Greg Casar and Joaquin Castro have suggested Biden should bring the Texas National Guard under federal control using a mechanism known as Title 10 status if Abbott maintains his current policy over the border with Mexico.

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled federal agents can remove razor wire installed along the border on Abbott's instruction, sparking a furious response from the Texas governor. Two days later, Abbott released a letter claiming the current migration surge into Texas constitutes an "invasion" and that he had involved his state's "constitutional authority to defend and protect itself" which "is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary."

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Daniel Miller, president of the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM) which campaigns for the Lone Star State to declare independence from the U.S., called on Abbott to radically expand the State Guard and place them along the Mexican border if the National Guard is federalized.

He said: "If Biden federalizes the Texas National Guard, Greg Abbott should immediately throw enlistment in the Texas State Guard WIDE OPEN, fully militarize them, and deploy them as a Border Protection Force along the entire border."

Unlike their counterparts in the Texas Army National Guard and Texas Air National Guard, a mechanism doesn't currently exist to federalize the State Guard.

The Texas State Guard comprises around 1,900 personnel, making it substantially smaller than the roughly 23,000-strong Texas National Guard.

Thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers are currently taking part in Operation Lone Star, launched by Governor Abbott in 2021 to boost border security.

Speaking to Newsweek, Miller said: "When Abbott first began using the Texas National Guard for Operation Lone Star, there was always a risk that the federal government would call the Guard into federal service and order them to stand down.

"This is precisely why it's been our position since 2012 that the Texas State Guard should be the primary vehicle used by the Texas Military Department for border protection. By law, the Texas State Guard cannot be federalized and remain solely under the authority of the Governor of the State of Texas.

"We predicted this would ultimately be the tactic used by the federal government in an attempt to keep the Texas border wide open to the cartels, and yet again, we've been proven right."

Newsweek reached out to the office of Governor Abbott by telephone and an online contact form at around 5:30 a.m. ET on Thursday. This article will be updated if a comment is received.

In an interview with Newsweek, Texas-based trial attorney Tray Gober, a managing partner at law firm Lee, Gober & Reyna, warned Governor Abbott against defying Monday's Supreme Court ruling on removing razor wire from the southern border.

He said: "Supreme Court rulings are the law of the land. Federal law is supreme to any conflicting state law."

The attorney said: "It's not unprecedented for state or local officials to refuse to comply with a Supreme Court ruling. Two historical examples come to mind.

"After the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which declared state laws establishing separate public schools for Black and white students to be unconstitutional, several Southern states resisted implementing desegregation. In response, President Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent in the 101st Airborne Division to enforce the court's decision and protect the students.

"Decades later, Kim Davis, a county clerk in Kentucky refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples following the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Her refusal led to legal action against her, and she was briefly jailed for contempt of court.

"Hopefully, Texas Governor Abbott will put a higher priority on his oath to support the Constitution of the United States rather than observing a political strategy."