Texas 'prepared' for clash with feds over border, Gov. Abbott says; 10 states sending National Guard troops

Abbott: 'This is a fight for the future of America'

By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter Friday, January 26, 2024

Texas National Guard soldiers wait nearby the boat ramp where law enforcement enter the Rio Grande at Shelby Park on January 26, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the Texas National Guard to secure the area which has seen an unprecedented numbers of illegal crossings under the Biden administration. | Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images

At least 10 states are sending National Guard troops or other personnel to Texas in support of the state’s defense of the U.S.-Mexico border, Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott announced Friday.

In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Abbott, who is in India on state business, said while 10 states have officially announced plans to support Texas’ border fight, he believes all 25 GOP governor-led states will eventually send some form of support.

“There have been about 10 so far who have sent National Guard or other law enforcement,” he said. “They now are joined together with us. This is a fight for the future of America, and they all know it. And so I believe they will all be in on this effort.”

In an interview from India, Gov. Greg Abbott says ten other states have sent national guard to the Texas border, and others will follow. Abbott says he is “prepared” for a conflict with federal authorities. pic.twitter.com/F58MLoOsAZ
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 26, 2024

While Abbott said he’d be “shocked” if the Biden administration federalized the Texas National Guard, the governor said his administration is “prepared” for any scenario by continuing to put up concertina wire or other anti-climb border barriers to defend the state.

“We are prepared in the event that that unlikely event does occur to make sure that we will be able to continue exactly what we've been doing over the past month,” he said. “... We will continue to do exactly what we're doing to expand our denial of illegal entry into the state of Texas.”

Earlier Friday, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced he is in talks about sending the Oklahoma National Guard to support Texas, calling the border situation a “powder keg worth of tension.”

“Right now, you’ve got the federal agents who are cutting the wire, then you’ve got the Texas National Guard on orders to put up the wire,” Stitt told Newsmax Thursday. “This is a powder keg worth of tension, so it’s a very weird situation.”

The response follows a call from former President Donald Trump, who urged governors of “all willing states” to send Guard troops to the border.

“In the face of this National Security, Public Safety, and Public Health Catastrophe, Texas has rightly invoked the Invasion Clause of the Constitution, and must be given full support to repel the Invasion,” Trump said in a statement Thursday. “We encourage all willing States to deploy their guards to Texas to prevent the entry of Illegals, and to remove them back across the Border.”

Other states, such as Florida, have already signaled a willingness to support Texas’ border efforts, with Gov. Ron DeSantis warning of what he called an “invasion” across the border.

“If the Constitution really made states powerless to defend themselves against an invasion, it wouldn’t have been ratified in the first place and Texas would have never joined the union when it did,” DeSantis wrote on X. “[Texas] is upholding the law while Biden is flouting it.”

A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol spokesman on Friday reportedly told Fox News the CBP has “no plans” to remove any border barriers and that ties between CBP and Texas agencies “remains strong.”

On Thursday, Republican governors from 25 states released a joint statement saying the Biden administration has failed to stem the tide of what they called “unprecedented illegal immigration.”

The statement read in part: “President Biden and his Administration have left Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border. 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.”

The standoff between Texas and the federal government began in earnest earlier this week after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Biden administration could remove razor wire and other border barriers along the Rio Grande.

In its 5-4 ruling Monday, the Supreme Court issued a temporary stay on a ruling from a U.S. Circuit Court which prohibited the Biden administration from taking down any border barriers except in the event of a life-saving emergency.

Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post and the author of BACKWARDS DAD: a children's book for grownups. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com.