“Texas this week erected new barriers along part of the state’s border with Mexico, blocking Border Patrol access, a court filing said on Friday, as conflict over migration escalates between the state’s Republican governor and Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden. The Texas National Guard added new concertina wire and fencing to a stretch of the border near Eagle Pass, blocking U.S. Border Patrol access to a city park that contains a boat ramp agents use to reach the Rio Grande, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Further:
"The drownings – as well as the rescue of two other migrants on the US side of the Rio Grande by Mexican authorities – “underscore that Texas is firm in its continued efforts to exercise complete control of the border and land” in the area “and to block Border Patrol’s access to the border even in emergency circumstances,” the administration wrote. "
…
"“At the very least, however, Border Patrol would have had the opportunity to take any available steps to fulfill its responsibilities and assist its counterparts in the Mexican government with undertaking the rescue mission. Texas made that impossible.” "
If local authorities are usurping the explicitly enumerated powers of the Federal Government, it’s time to federalize the Texas National Guard.
It really is. And in the context of what Abbot is doing, it is 100% legally justified at this point.
The incredibly shitty part is that, despite the unambiguous legality of such a hypothetical move, Biden won’t do it, because Abbot might actually use that as a political wedge. Which would be incredibly idiotic in the context of “America continuing to exist” - especially if the TXNG leadership decides to throw in with Abbot, which would effectively kick off a second civil war (which might start “cold”, but almost certainly wouldn’t end that way).