Republican Officials Warn Biden Against Taking Control of Texas Military

A group of 26 Republican state attorneys general is warning the Biden administration to "get out of the way" in the southern border battle dispute if it doesn't want to work with Texas officials and the state's military.

Tensions associated with the handling of the escalating situation at the U.S.-Mexico border ramped up last week after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that federal Border Patrol agents could remove razor wire and other barriers constructed along to border to curb immigration. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has vowed to continue to utilize the Texas National Guard to combat record numbers of migrant encounters, saying, "This is not over."

On Thursday, 25 Republican governors backed Abbott and "Texas's constitutional authority to defend and protect itself" against what he has referred to as a migrant "invasion" of his state. The partisan support has also accelerated warnings of a "civil war" emanating from differing views on immigration, just as Congress is set to introduce new legislation that House Speaker Mike Johnson warns "could be dead on arrival" in his chamber.

Texas Democratic Representatives Greg Casar and Joaquin Castro have called for Biden to federalize the Texas National Guard, which he has the legal authority to do in accordance with Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which would mean the state's troops—which are currently operating under Title 32, which makes Abbott their commander—would be under direct orders of the president.

"The Supreme Court's order did not tell Texas that it could or could not do anything," reads the letter, addressed to Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday. "Texas should be applauded for continuing to try to protect the border despite the federal government now, again, being able to try to destroy the barriers Texas builds."

The letter concludes: "What you should do is simple: enforce the law and protect the border. And despite some recent suggestions that you should nationalize control of the Texas National Guard as a ruse, we would like to remind you that you cannot do so without legal authority that you currently lack. If you cannot bring yourselves to enforce the law, get out of the way so Texas can."

The attorneys general represent the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming, as well as the leadership of the Arizona state Legislature.

"Texas is fighting for the sovereignty of their state and this nation," Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody wrote Monday on X, formerly Twitter. "I, along with 25 other state attorneys general, sent a letter to @JoeBiden and @SecMayorkas and the message is simple: if you cannot bring yourselves to enforce the law, get out of the way so the states can."

Newsweek reached out to Moody via phone and email for comment.

Kate Melloy Goettel, legal director of litigation at the American Immigration Council, told Newsweek via phone that some ambiguity associated with the role of the federal government and Texas National Guard stems from the brief two-sentence ruling by the Supreme Court, which she says may rule again on the issue pending what occurs in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and during oral arguments in February.

"I think that what you're seeing here, with regards to the concertina wire and the buoys and the Rio Grande, as well as some of the new laws that were enacted by the Texas Legislature and signed into law by Governor Abbott, is a real run at the idea and the constitutional principle that the federal government is in charge of immigration law and immigration enforcement," Goettel said.

"There is pretty clear Supreme Court case law on that very point. And it appears that Governor Abbott may be trying to change that Supreme Court case law in light of the fact that we now have a more conservative Supreme Court," she added.

The American Immigration Council advocates on behalf of immigrants by trying to create more just laws in addition to welcoming communities. Goettel said that advocacy extends nationally to help Americans better understand "the value and benefits of immigrants in our communities."

"I think for the migrants trying to reach the border, the options are becoming more and more dangerous, and more and more desperate, especially as it's becoming difficult to be present at ports of entry," she said. "And so, a lot of migrants are feeling compelled to enter between ports of entry and it's scary and dangerous for them to do so.

"And there are real consequences for Border Patrol being unable to carry out one of their functions, which is to protect the safety of migrants. This isn't just about politics; this is really about safety for migrants and their families."