Immigration invasion: GOP governors team up to back Texas amid Biden administration "attack"
Twenty-five states accuse the president of leaving "Americans and our country completely vulnerable" and back Abbott's right to "protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation" in the face of federal inaction.
Twenty-five Republican governors released a joint letter declaring their unconditional support for Texas in its "constitutional right to self-defense" in the face of the "invasion" of illegal immigrants in the country. The signatories accuse the Biden administration of leaving "Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border." Further, they say, President Biden and his administration have "attacked and sued" Greg Abbott for trying to "protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation." The only GOP governor who did not sign the letter was Phil Scott, of Vermont.
Defending Texas' use of "every tool and strategy"
The statement, accompanied on social media by messages from conservative governors noting that they "stand with Texas," asserts that the crisis has reached this point because "the Biden Administration continues to attack Texas and refuses to take action or responsibility for the crisis at the Southern border."
Vermont governor absent again
The letter includes the signatures of: Gov. Kay Ivey (Alabama), Gov. Mike Dunleavy (Alaska), Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Arkansas), Gov. Ron DeSantis (Florida), Gov. Brian Kemp (Georgia), Gov. Brad Little (Idaho), Gov. Eric Holcomb (Indiana), Gov. Kim Reynolds (Iowa), Gov. Jeff Landry (Louisiana), Gov. Tate Reeves (Mississippi), Gov. Mike Parson (Missouri), Gov. Greg Gianforte (Montana), Gov. Jim Pillen (Nebraska), Gov. Joe Lombardo (Nevada), Gov. Chris Sununu (New Hampshire), Gov. Doug Burgum (North Dakota), Gov. Mike DeWine (Ohio), Gov. Kevin Stitt (Oklahoma), Gov. Henry McMaster (South Carolina), Gov. Kristi Noem (South Dakota), Gov. Bill Lee (Tennessee), Gov. Spencer Cox (Utah), Gov. Glenn Youngkin (Virginia), Gov. Jim Justice (West Virginia), and Gov. Mark Gordon (Wyoming).
The only governor who did not sign the letter was Phil Scott, of Vermont, in line with the position he has maintained on this issue. In 2018, he indicated he was "not eager" to send the state's National Guard to assist the Border Patrol, and in 2023, he was also the only one of his conservative colleagues not to sign a letter to President Biden demanding more information about the situation on the border with Mexico.