In response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Biden administration on Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is defying the decision and the Texas Military Department is recruiting volunteers to support their operations on the U.S.-Mexico border. Abbott is claiming Texas law supersedes the federal ruling on the basis of declaring an invasion, stating, “For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.”
Representative Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) wrote on X, “Governor Greg Abbott is using the Texas National Guard to obstruct and create chaos at the border. If Abbott is defying yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, @POTUS needs to establish sole federal control of the Texas National Guard now.”
Yesterday a reporter asked White House National Security Advisor John Kirby if President Joe Biden would federalize the National Guard in Texas. Kirby responded, “I don’t have any decisions to speak to for the president. I don’t have anything on that.”
In response to the calls to federalize the National Guard branches in Texas, some have urged Abbott to militarize the Texas State Guard, a much smaller branch of the Texas Military Forces with around 1,900 personnel. Under current law, Biden does not have the ability to federalize the Texas State Guard as he does the Texas Army National Guard and Texas Air National Guard.
Daniel Miller, president of the Texas Nationalist Movement, a secessionist organization promoting Texas independence, called for Abbott to fully militarize the Texas State Guard, saying on X, “If Biden federalizes the Texas National Guard, @GregAbbott_TX 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.”
