Two Democratic members of the House of Representatives urged President Joe Biden to federalize the Texas National Guard on Wednesday.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas issued a defiant statement after the Supreme Court ruled the Biden administration could cut concertina wire placed by the state on the border in which he said the National Guard was among agencies erecting barriers.
Democratic Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar of Texas demanded Biden seize control of the National Guard in response to the statement.
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“Governor Greg Abbott is using the Texas National Guard to obstruct and create chaos at the border,” Castro posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “If Abbott is defying yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, @POTUS needs to establish sole federal control of the Texas National Guard now.”
Federalizing the National Guard is an action that has been undertaken by a president before. Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard after Democratic Gov. Orval E. Faubus of Arkansas used it to prevent black students from attending Central High School in Little Rock in 1957.
“I agree with @JoaquinCastrotx: if Abbott is defying yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, @POTUS needs to establish sole federal control of the Texas National Guard,” Casar posted after accusing Abbott of “violating the Constitution and endangering both U.S. citizens and asylum seekers” in a previous post.
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The Texas Department of Public Safety took control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, a hotspot of illegal immigration, on Jan. 11, as the state engages the federal government in ongoing legal battles over Texas’ efforts to keep migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
Nearly 380,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border during the first two months of fiscal year 2024, which started Oct. 1, according to data released by United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), following 2,045,838 encounters in fiscal year 2023, 2,206,436 in fiscal year 2022 and 1,659,206 in fiscal year 2021. Another 302,000 illegal immigrants entered the United States in December.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
